India in the U.S. strategy for the Indo-Pacific
With its significant rise in position and power in recent years, India has been asserting its importance on the strategic chessboard in the Indo-Pacific and has become an indispensable partner of major powers, including the U.S. Therefore, the role of India in the U.S. strategy and the relationship between the two countries are of great public concern.
The role of India in U.S. strategy
It is widely believed that under the presidency of Joe Biden, the U.S. continues to uphold the role of India by determining that this country has a significant influence on the implementation of U.S. foreign policies in the region and the world. On the other hand, India (situated in the Indian Ocean) along with Japan and Australia (both situated in the Pacific Ocean) form a strategic triangle of security that can help the U.S. cover most of the Indo-Pacific, contributing to containing China’s “ambition” to alter the regional order and balance of power. Therefore, the U.S. respect for India is evident in several important policies as well as statements of U.S. administration officials. The first thing to be mentioned is that in the Indo-Pacific Strategy announced by the administration of President Joe Biden in February 2022, India was ranked among top partners whose relations with the U.S. need to be deepened. Additionally, the FY 2023 U.S. National Defence Authorisation Act also referred to the matters of deepening relations and strengthening partnerships with India as well as reducing its dependence on Russia for military and energy resources. Kurt Campbell, the U.S. coordinator for the Indo-Pacific affirmed that India is a “lever” factor on the international stage during the 21st century, being one of the countries that can shape the future of Asia and an important member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and several multilateral mechanisms.
Determining the importance of India in the U.S. strategy for the Indo-Pacific, the administration of President Joe Biden has consistently established its relations with India in a number of fields. Regarding the field of politics and diplomacy, the two sides maintained flexible contacts and paid major visits amid the Covid-19 complicated outbreak, namely: Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the U.S. (in September 2021) following the visits of Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar (in May 2021) and visits to India by U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (in March 2021) and Secretary of State Antony Blinken (in July 2021), etc. In the field of economy, the two countries increased trade exchanges, with turnover in 2021 rising by approximately 33% compared to that of 2020. Besides, economic obstacles were initially removed. Notably, during the bilateral trade policy held in November 2021, both countries agreed to increase market access for a range of agricultural products. The U.S. agreed to consider India’s proposal to reinstate the preferential tariff regime under the framework of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), loosing regulations on mango and pomegranate imports from India at the beginning of 2022. In response, India had a similar move with cherries, hay, and pork imported from the U.S. In the military field, the two sides pledged to step up cooperation in defence industry, development of military hardware, joint exercises, information sharing and logistics. In addition, the U.S. also provided India with modern military equipment, including the multi-mission helicopter MH-60R. Besides, the US pledged to support India to become a security guarantor of the region.
The U.S. encourages India to play a greater role in the region, in the world, and in US-led multilateral mechanisms, especially India’s leading role in South Asia in the Indo-Pacific Strategy. Moreover, the U.S. expressed its support for India to become a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, joining the group of nuclear suppliers. With a flexible approach that values their allies and partners, Washington persuaded New Delhi to actively participate in the QUAD group, contributing to improving the Group’s ability to cooperate. Besides, they successfully organised 4 summits in two years, launched the programme of providing 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine, and announced the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), etc.
In handling problems between the two sides, the administration of Joe Biden emphasised dialogue and persuasion, limiting pressure caused by imposing taxes and restricting visas under President Donald Trump. Regarding the conflict in Ukraine or India’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defence system, instead of activating the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanction Act” (CAATSA) as previously done with Turkey, the U.S. has not made any decision to the case of India. A number of U.S. congressmen also support the waiver of sanctions that could be triggered under CAATSA. However, the fact that the U.S. has not declared an exemption shows that the U.S. remains open to the possibility of imposing sanctions on India in case this country displays a bias in its relations with Russia.
Influential factors and trends in U.S.-India relations
According to experts, the adjustment in the U.S. assessment and approach in relations with India is caused by several reasons, in which China is considered the biggest factor. First of all, China’s strong rise and expansion of influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean were identified as the main reasons, which forced the U.S. to strengthen ties with India in order to “contain” China. Additionally, the relationship between India and China has recently been showing signs of deterioration due to the conflict between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh (which has been on since June 2020). Indeed, India is concerned about China’s adoption of the “Bell and Road” Initiative (BRI) to build infrastructure connecting Asia with Europe and to set up ports in some South Asia countries and West African seas that would limit intercontinental trade activities, interfering more deeply in India’s traditional sphere of influence, etc. These are the reasons for the strengthening of the U.S.-India cooperation.
In recent years, the position and role of India in the region as well as the international arena has been raised, broadening the interference of interests between the two countries. Being a country located on the Indian subcontinent, deep into the Indian Ocean that connects different economies of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia and has several sea routes and straits, such as Hormuz, Malacca, Bab-ek Mandeb, etc., India is considered a pivotal piece on the Indo-Pacific map. With appropriate economic development policies, in 2019, India surpassed France and the UK to become the 5th largest economy in the world and the 3rd largest in Asia, ranking after China and Japan. India is also among the countries with a strong recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic (its GDP growth forecast is approximately 8% in 2022 and 2023, which is higher than that of China). Having a large domestic market, abundant labour resources, and strength in raw materials, India can become a potential “link” that replaces China in the key global supply chain, especially in supplying semiconductor chips. At the beginning of 2021, the Indian government approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to provide economic incentives to domestic and foreign manufacturing companies participating in the “Make in India” initiative. India’s development is a driving force for the U.S. to strengthen its cooperation with India, surpassing China to become India’s top trading partner in 2022 with a total two-way turnover of up to $119.42 billion. Currently, India ranks 5th in the world in terms of military and nuclear power and is an important partner in U.S-led mechanisms as well as a leading country in importing U.S. weapons.
Besides the advantages, the issue of democracy and the India-Russia relationship are the barriers affecting the two countries’ strengthening of ties. Although the U.S. and India are considered to be the two largest democracies in the world, sharing the same values and upholding international law, these countries still have several differences during the implementation process. While the U.S. upholds democratic values and human rights and expresses concern about freedom of religion, belief, and rights of ethnic minorities in India, India upholds the policy of “strategic autonomy”, relationship diversification, and non-alignment of traditions. When the conflict in Ukraine broke out, the U.S. repeatedly persuaded and even pressured India to isolate Russia. However, this country resolutely kept its relationship with Russia to protect its interests by abstaining from voting or voting against several drafts of UN resolutions relating to the conflict. Indeed, India continued to purchase crude oil and the S-400 air defence system from Russia.
Although the U.S. and India still have some different opinions, international analysts believe that in the foreseeable future, the administration of President Joe Biden will maintain and deepen relations with India while demonstrating a comprehensive approach by applying “willows are weak yet they bind other wood” method in handling issues between the two countries. India has a great regional and global influence through its diversity of ethnicities, religions, and distinct cultural values. Moreover, the strategic competition between the U.S. and China is expanding in terms of geography and scale while the U.S. has to deal with traditional and non-traditional security challenges are the reasons why it is necessary for the U.S. to continue to strengthen ties with its “barrier” in the Indian Ocean. India, on the other hand, has strategic interests in promoting its partnership with the U.S., including Washington’s support for New Delhi in the fields of commerce, energy, science and technology, defence industry, military modernisation, etc.
In the context that the world situation is changing quickly and unpredictably and the strategic competition among major powers is getting increasingly fierce, posing new challenges for countries, it is understandable that Washington and New Delhi are looking for similarities to strengthen their ties for their own benefits. International opinion holds that the strengthened U.S-India relationship will contribute to consolidating regional and global peace and stability.
MY CHAU