The fag-end of Obama administration has seen growing of Indo-US ties especially in the defence and economic sector. United States is keen to keep the way forward in “nudging India to expand their commitments by signing the foundational agreements and by moving forward with military sales (which) will provide opportunities for a sustained relationship far more robust than exercises and exchanges. If we can continue our trend of major military sales, we will cement a relationship for the next several decades with the most stable country in South Asia. It is unlikely that the Indian side has not seen the material benefits of these agreements. Certainly, the Indian military can operate without subscribing to an American framework but doing so will drastically expand its capabilities until such a time as Delhi develops its own defence network. When the subject of India signing on to the foundational agreements was first broached, several senior Indian military officials played down their importance, saying that the pacts make no difference to the Indian operational scope. Such opinions might be dismissed as being bound by political views of the time – non-alignment, and an intellectual inertia that was sold as pacifism. The United States has also earned a reputation as an unreliable patron, ironically from both India and Pakistan. Foggy Bottom cut off arms supplies in 1965 as well as in 1971 when war broke out between India and Pakistan; in 1974 and in 1998, after India’s nuclear tests, it became the subject of US sanctions. Delhi worries that if it relies too much on an American defence framework, it might find its options in a conflict circumscribed by US interests and worldview. More recently, Washington’s ridiculous good Taliban/bad Taliban routine got no chuckles in Delhi. Advancing the joint vision that President Obama and Prime Minister Modi set out in 2014 of ‘Chalein Saath’ — Forward together we go — and capturing the benefits of our Joint Strategic vision as indispensable partners in promoting peace, prosperity, and stability in the region the two are looking forward to carry forward the half finished agenda which is needed for a stable South East Asia.
