NEW DELHI: India and the US on Saturday resolved to further strengthen their robust defence ties as a bulwark against China’s belligerence in the Indo-Pacific, even as secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin raised human rights issues and India’s impending induction of the Russian S-400 missile systems.
After a wide-ranging meeting with defence minister Rajnath Singh, Austin, who was a four-star general in the US army, said elevating the India-US defence relationship is a “priority” for the Biden administration while describing the partnership as “a stronghold of a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.
At a select briefing of journalists, Austin said he had “conversations” with Indian ministers on the “specific issue” of human rights, though he did not get the opportunity to talk to PM Narendra Modi on the matter on Friday.
“India is our partner, and whose partnership we value. And I think partners need to be able to have those kinds of discussions. And certainly, we feel comfortable doing that. And you can have those discussions in a very meaningful way and make progress,” he added.
On the strategic partnership front, mentioning the “Quad” as a key element of cooperation, Austin said: “PM Modi has stated that India stands for freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, and adherence to international law. This is a resounding affirmation of our shared vision for regional security in the Indo-Pacific.”
Underlining the new US administration’s policy to strengthen alliances and partnerships to foster “credible deterrence” against China, Austin said, “I reaffirmed our commitment to a comprehensive and forward-looking defence partnership with India as a central pillar of our approach to the region.”
Rajnath Singh, in turn, said India too is keen to work together with the US to “release the full potential” of the bilateral “comprehensive global strategic partnership” with the agenda, including furthering intelligence and logistics cooperation.
Towards this end, the two will further expand military-to-military engagements between Indian armed forces and the American Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command and Africa Command as well as enhance information-sharing and mutual logistics support, and collaborate in producing high-tech weapon systems.
But amidst the strategic convergence, the US flagged its concerns over human rights and the S-400 acquisition. “You have heard President Biden say human rights and rule of law is important to the US. We always lead with our values. As a democracy that’s pretty important for us. India is a democratic country, and you treasure your values as well. There are a number of things that we can and will work on together,” he said.
US Senate foreign relations committee chairman Bob Menendez had in a letter urged Austin to “raise democracy and human rights concerns” in his meetings with the Indian government and had cited the “crackdown” on protesting farmers and “intimidation of journalists and government critics”.
As for the S-400 systems, Austin said he had taken up the matter with Rajnath Singh but there was no question of discussing the “issue of sanctions” because India was yet to get delivery of the surface-to-air missiles. “We certainly urge all our allies and partners to move away from Russian equipment and avoid any kind of acquisitions that would trigger sanctions,” he said.
Under the $5.43 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) contract inked with Russia in 2018, India will begin inducting the advanced S-400 Triumf missile systems from this October onwards.
India has pushed for a waiver from the US law CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act), which was enacted in 2017 to prevent countries from buying Russian weapons or Iranian oil.
With the Modi government conveying to the US that the S-400 acquisition is an “urgent national security requirement”, Indian officials are reasonably confident of getting a waiver. The earlier Trump administration had imposed financial sanctions on China and Turkey for inducting the S-400 systems from Russia.