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Roundtable highlights advancement in India-US strategic partnership
Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) as a potential game-changer in the India-US relationship
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the United States of America, Mr. Joe Biden, at White House, in Washington DC, USA. (Representative image) / PIB
A recent roundtable, jointly organized by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum and CUTS International, a non-profit focused on trade relations, shed light on the remarkable progress in the India-US relationship.
Speaking at the event, Siddharth Iyer, Director for South Asia, Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy), Department of Defense emphasized the significant strides made over the past two years, highlighting the momentum driving the partnership. He noted a paradigm shift in the Department of Defense's perspective, with security and defense cooperation now viewed as pivotal areas.
Iyer outlined three key areas of significance in the defense relationship, starting with deepening technology cooperation. He also underscored the increasing operational engagements between the two militaries, marking a significant upward trend. Additionally, he highlighted the growth in high-level bilateral engagements, indicating a strong and frequent exchange between senior leaders from both countries.
Iyer said,” Incredible amount of progress (in India-US relationship) has been made not just in the last two years, but even the last 12 months. I think that just sort of underscores the degree to which there's incredible momentum and the relationship now is defined more by the pace and the sort of overall trajectory rather than by differences and divergences on key issues.”
“The overall paradigm of the relationship I think has changed, particularly from the perspective of the Department of Defense where I think historically security and defence cooperation has traditionally been viewed as an area sort of too sensitive or traditionally lags other areas of cooperation,” he added.
Ryan Holliway, a Political-Military Officer from the Department of State, emphasized the strategic importance of the US-India partnership, positioning it as crucial for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. He highlighted the depth and sensitivity of global and strategic discussions between the two nations, reflecting a close partnership across all government levels.
"We see this strategic partnership as a crucial pillar of a free and open Indo-Pacific and the 21st century. In a general sense, our exchange of global and strategic issues has never been deeper or more sensitive than it is today, which is a testing out to the close partnership at all levels of our government,” he said.
Pradeep Mehta, Secretary-General of CUTS International, lauded the launch of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) as a potential game-changer in the India-US relationship. He highlighted its role in accelerating strategic convergence and policy alignment, particularly in defense and security. Mehta emphasized the importance of technology cooperation in strengthening the multifaceted strategic partnership between the two nations.
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