New Delhi: US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin is on a visit to India and his visit is seen as a significant one as he is the first member under Biden presidency to have visited India.
Before visiting India, Defence Secretary Austin had visited Japan and South Korea.
The visit is considered crucial because it also comes at a time when tension between India-China continues to simmer along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and also when tensions between the US and China seems to be heated up.
In conversation with ETV Bharat, Professor Harsh V Pant, Director, Research with Observer Research Foundation and an expert on International relations, opines that US Defence Secretary's visit to India is crucial because it shows the discussions that took place during the 'Quad' meeting, would be now operationalised.
India is not an alliance partner of the United States but it is a strategic partner and it shows how important India has become in American foreign policy and security matrix in Indo-Pacific”.
It is pertinent to note that, Biden's administration has been very vocal about Chinese growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region and has time and again asserted that it will counter Beijing's aggressive and coercive actions. Therefore, the United States is leaving no stone unturned to bolster Asian alliances.
Before taking a tour to India, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin visited Japan and Korea and stressed the importance of trilateral cooperation among the US, Japan and South Korea in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific as China flexes muscle.
Also Read: Elevating US-India defence partnership priority of Biden administration: Austin
Now the Defense Secretary's visit to India highly reflects the strong strategic as well as the bilateral partnership between India-US.
It also shows that the United States is trying to cover up the whole of Indo-Pacific with its key partners and seeking to ally with countries to push back against China's assertiveness in the region.
"China-US relations are certainly going to be problematic and very challenging. China was expecting that perhaps, Biden administration would be more lenient than Trump but that has not happened.
Biden administration is putting pressure on China on multiple fronts including trade, security, human rights issues, so there is pressure on China now which is unprecedented and India too has its problem with China.
Therefore, in the larger Indo-Pacific matrix, India and America would be working together to see what they can do as was exemplified by the 'Quad' meeting as well as the high-level interaction are happening with the Secretary of Defense visiting India”, Professor Pant added.
India's stance on Washington's opposition to purchasing Russia's S-400 system
On being asked what would be India's stand on Washington's opposition to India's purchase of S-400 defence systems from Russia, Pant said, “S-400 is a difficult issue because there is a legislation called 'CAATSA'- (Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act), as a part of which India can be sanctioned. So far India has been given a waiver, unlike Turkey where sanctions have been imposed for buying S-400 from Russia. India has not been sanctioned as of yet. India has a long-standing defence relationship with Russia but Russia's relationship with the West particularly with America is going down, as Russia has recently been sanctioned, Russia's special envoy has been called from America, so Russia-US tension is going but India will have to make a case to America that the US should not see India's purchase of S-400 through the prism of its tension with Russia rather than through the prism of India's defence requirements, which would enable India to regional challenges including China".
Earlier on Saturday, the US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin met India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh where both the leaders had a comprehensive and fruitful discussion.
Also Read: Make in India, Asia Pacific, technology transfer on table during Rajnath-Austin meeting
Both sides expressed a desire to work together to realize the full potential of the India-US comprehensive Global Strategic partnership.
According to the statement issued by India's Defense Ministry, both sides discussed the wide gamut of bilateral and multilateral exercises and agreed to pursue enhanced cooperation with the US Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command and Africa Command. “Acknowledging that we have in place the foundational agreements, LEMOA, COMCASA and BECA, we discussed steps to be taken to realize their full potential for mutual benefit”, the statement read.
Secretary Austin in a joint statement reiterated that the US reaffirmed its commitment to a comprehensive and looking forward to defence partnership with India as a central pillar of its approach to the region.
Later in the evening, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed US Def Secretary and had a wide-ranging conversation on the global strategic situation. “Look forward to working with him on enhancing our strategic-partnership”, EAM Jaishankar said in a tweet.
After meeting Jaishankar, Defence Secretary said, "As the two largest democracies in the world, human rights and values are important to us and we will lead with these values."
Further, former diplomat Jitendra Tripathi explains why the visit is crucial. He says, “India has become a regional player in the world power game and the United States needs India to conquer China and Russia in Asia.
India needs the US as much as the US needs India to counter their common enemy. Where on the one hand, the United States needs to contain Russia, on the other hand, India needs to play a very cautious game in it. The visit of the Defense Secretary to India is crucial because it has already given signals to China that it is worried about”, Tripathi points out.
On Thursday, the US Secretary of Defence also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NSA Ajit Doval
Secretary Austin reiterated the US government's continued commitment towards strengthening the bilateral defence relations between the two countries.
He expressed the US's strong desire to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
Also Read: US Def Sec Austin and Singh to discuss ways to operationalise major defence partnership: Pentagon
