US defense secretary discusses upgrading India ties to counter China

NEW DELHI — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday discussed upgrading partnership with India, a major arms buyer, and set a road map for cooperation for the next five years as both countries grapple with China’s economic rise and increased belligerence, officials said.

Austin’s visit comes as India strengthens its domestic defense industry by acquiring new technologies and reducing reliance on imports, particularly from Russia, its largest supplier of military hardware despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Austin and his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, explored ways of building resilient supply chains, a statement from India’s Defense Ministry said. They decided “to identify opportunities for the co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing and new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defense startup ecosystems of the two countries.”

They also discussed regional security issues and committed to strengthening operational collaboration across all military services, with an eye to supporting India’s leading role as a security provider in the Indo-Pacific, the statement said.

The new road map for U.S.-India defense industrial cooperation will fast track technology cooperation and co-production in areas such as air combat and land mobility systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, munitions and the undersea domain, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said.

“This initiative aims to change the paradigm for cooperation between U.S. and Indian defense sectors, including a set of specific proposals that could provide India access to cutting-edge technologies and support India’s defense modernization plans,” it said.

The discussions also included cooperation in space, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence. Austin also met with India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

“I’m returning to India to meet with key leaders for discussions about strengthening our Major Defense Partnership. Together, we’re advancing a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Austin tweeted after his arrival in New Delhi on Sunday.

Austin, who is on his second visit to India, was expected to lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington on June 22, which has fuelled speculation about a possible announcement of defense contracts.

India is looking to buy 18 armed high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. for an estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion, said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst. The UAVs would likely be deployed along its restive borders with China and Pakistan and in the strategic Indian Ocean region, Bedi said.

Indian media reports said a joint production and manufacture of combat aircraft engines, infantry combat vehicles, howitzers and their precision ordnance were discussed last month in Washington at a meeting of the U.S.-India Defense Policy Group.

Austin arrived in New Delhi from Singapore, where he attended the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual forum bringing together top defense officials, diplomats and leaders. Austin lobbied for support for Washington’s vision of a “free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights” as the best course to counter increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region.

China’s Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu said at the conference that the U.S. has been “deceiving and exploiting” Asia-Pacific nations to advance its own self-interests to preserve “its dominant position.”

Li suggested that Washington has been holding on to alliances that are “remnants of the Cold War” and establishing new pacts, like the AUKUS agreement with Britain and Australia and the Quad grouping with Australia, India and Japan, “to divide the world into ideologically-driven camps and provoke confrontation.”

India is trying a balancing act in its ties with Washington and Moscow, and has been reducing its dependence on Russian arms by also buying from the U.S., France, Germany and other countries.

The U.S. defense trade with India has risen from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. Major Indian purchases from the United States included long-range maritime patrol aircraft, C-130 transport aircraft, missiles and drones.

Experts say up to 60% of Indian defense equipment comes from Russia, and New Delhi finds itself in a bind at a time when it is facing a 3-year-old border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, where tens of thousands of soldiers are stationed within shooting distance. Twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops died in a clash in 2020.

新德里——官员们表示，美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀周一讨论了提升与主要武器买家印度的伙伴关系，并制定了未来五年的合作路线图，因为两国都在努力应对中国的经济崛起和日益强硬的姿态。

奥斯汀此次访问正值印度通过获取新技术和减少对进口的依赖来加强其国内国防工业之际，尤其是对俄罗斯的依赖，尽管乌克兰战争仍在继续，但俄罗斯仍然是印度最大的军事装备供应商。

印度国防部的一份声明称，奥斯汀与印度国防部长拉杰纳特·辛格探讨了构建具有韧性的供应链的途径。他们决定“寻找合作开发新技术、合作生产现有和新型系统的机会，并促进两国国防初创企业生态系统之间加强合作。”

声明称，双方还讨论了地区安全问题，并承诺加强各军种间的作战合作，以支持印度在印太地区发挥安全提供者的领导作用。

美国驻新德里大使馆表示，美印国防工业合作新路线图将加快空中作战和陆地机动系统、情报、监视和侦察、弹药和水下领域等领域的技术合作和联合生产。

“这项倡议旨在改变美印两国国防部门合作的模式，其中包括一系列具体建议，这些建议可以使印度获得尖端技术，并支持印度的国防现代化计划，”声明称。

双方还讨论了太空、网络空间和人工智能领域的合作。奥斯汀还会见了印度国家安全顾问阿吉特·多瓦尔。

“我将返回印度与主要领导人会面，讨论加强我们的主要防务伙伴关系。我们将共同推进自由开放的印太地区的共同愿景，”奥斯汀周日抵达新德里后在推特上写道。

这是奥斯汀第二次访问印度，预计他将为印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪6月22日访问华盛顿奠定基础，这引发了人们对可能宣布国防合同的猜测。

据国防分析师拉胡尔·贝迪称，印度正计划从通用原子航空系统公司购买18架武装高空长航时无人机，预计价值15亿至20亿美元。贝迪表示，这些无人机很可能部署在与中国和巴基斯坦接壤的动荡边境地区以及具有战略意义的印度洋地区。

据印度媒体报道，上个月在华盛顿举行的美印防务政策小组会议上，双方讨论了联合生产和制造战斗机发动机、步兵战车、榴弹炮及其精确制导武器的问题。

奥斯汀从新加坡抵达新德里。此前，他出席了在新加坡举行的香格里拉对话，这是一个汇聚高级国防官员、外交官和各国领导人的年度论坛。奥斯汀积极游说各方支持华盛顿提出的“在规则和权利的世界框架内，建立一个自由、开放、安全的印太地区”的愿景，认为这是应对中国在该地区日益增强的影响力的最佳途径。

中国国防部长李尚福将军在会上表示，美国一直在“欺骗和利用”亚太国家，以推进自身利益，维护其“主导地位”。

李认为，华盛顿一直坚持“冷战遗留的”联盟，并建立新的条约，例如与英国和澳大利亚签署的AUKUS协议以及与澳大利亚、印度和日本组成的四方安全对话机制，“目的是将世界划分为意识形态驱动的阵营，挑起对抗”。

印度正试图在与华盛顿和莫斯科的关系中寻求平衡，并通过从美国、法国、德国和其他国家购买武器来减少对俄罗斯武器的依赖。

美国与印度的国防贸易额已从 2008 年的几乎为零增长到 2020 年的超过 200 亿美元。印度从美国购买的主要武器包括远程海上巡逻机、C-130 运输机、导弹和无人机。

专家表示，印度高达60%的国防装备来自俄罗斯。新德里正面临着与中国在拉达克东部地区长达三年的边境对峙，双方数万名士兵驻扎在近在咫尺的地带，这使得印度陷入了进退两难的境地。2020年，双方发生冲突，造成20名印度士兵和4名中国士兵死亡。