With an eye on China, India and the US now plan to undertake ‘sea patrols’ and share intelligence in real-time to further expand their bilateral maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific as well as partner in new domains of space, cyber and artificial intelligence.
“Both countries expressed willingness and there was a broad understanding on the sea patrols as well as information-sharing, through satellites and other means, during the ‘two-plus-two’ dialogue in Washington last week,” the official said.
India and the US regularly conduct the top-notch Malabar naval exercise, along with the other two ‘Quad’ countries of Australia and Japan, as well as provide refuelling and operational turnaround facilities to each other’s warships under a reciprocal military logistics pact.
The plan to undertake sea patrols, whether in a joint or coordinated manner, will be a significant step forward in the backdrop of the increasing forays by China - which already has the world’s largest navy with 355 warships and submarines - into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
With defence minister Rajnath Singh also separately meeting his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and senior Boeing and Raytheon executives as well as visiting the Indo-Pacific Command at Hawaii, there was “forward movement” on several fronts, which included “business opportunities”, the official said.
The US, for instance, will be sending a team to visit Indian shipyards in line with India’s offer to “maintain and repair” American warships in the region. “India told the US it can provide customized facilities in a cost-effective manner,” the official said.
Similarly, Raytheon offered to invest $100 million for research in Bengaluru, while Boeing was “receptive” to setting up a MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility in India for P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and its variants in the region. India operates a fleet of 12 Boeing-manufactured P-8I, contracted under two deals collectively worth $3.2 billion.
With Rajnath Singh strongly pitching for co-development and co-production of high-tech weapon systems, India and the US also decided to “revitalise” the moribund Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). Counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and an ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance) platform were identified as the next two projects for collaboration.
