The enemy of my enemy: India and the US deepen security cooperation


Briefly: Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval travelled to Washington on Tuesday (31 January) to meet his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan. The pair promised to bolster security and tech ties in several key areas.

2022 was a weird year for India-US relations: On the one hand, they became new BFFs (best friends forever) thanks in part to The Quad, a US/India/Japan/Australia partnership to balance China support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

On the other hand, the US felt pretty jilted when India not only stayed near-silent over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but even served as an economic lifeline to the Kremlin (India-Russia trade hit a new record). India also buys 85% of its arms from Russia, which India will need if things get nasty with China or Pakistan.

So, the US wants to offer India some non-Russian alternatives. Doval and Sullivan agreed to share advanced defence and computing tech and potentially transfer some production of General Electric fighter jet engines to India. India also sought American support in the great global semiconductor race (PM Modi’s $10B “India Semiconductor Mission” still looks puny compared to the much larger US, EU and Chinese strategies).

Intrigue’s take: The US-India relationship is a classic case of national interest at play. Both see in the other a partner to counter-balance China’s assertive behaviour (including border clashes with India). But China isn’t the only tricky neighbour on India’s doorstep; think Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Russia… it’s quite the block.

So America’s begrudging silence on India’s continued dealings with Russia – and Washington’s willingness to help wean India off Russian arms – suggests the US understands (though doesn’t like) India’s position.

Also worth noting:

The Indian government proposed a 13% defence spending increase for the 2023-2024 fiscal year on Wednesday (1 February).

Latest Author Articles
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire wobbles

It’s been three weeks since Israel and Hamas signed a deal that put a tentative end to their ~16 months of devastating conflict.  The pact ramped up the flow of aid into the strip and enabled the return of an initial 16 Israeli hostages held by Hamas and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. […]

14 February, 2025
Did the US just ditch Ukraine?

As world leaders, chief diplomats, and defence leaders alike board their private jets to Munich today, just know that their teams are re-writing every briefing note and messaging strategy in the wake of Washington’s mic drop only hours ago.  Here’s what happened.  Speaking first from Brussels at the UK-chaired Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, the […]

13 February, 2025
Canada’s Trudeau resigns as PM, to stay on until new leader chosen

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned as Liberal Party leader and will end his term as PM as soon as an internal party successor has been named, Trudeau told the press at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday morning.  Trudeau’s resignation ends his nine-year term in power, marked by an open-revolt ending with numerous […]

6 January, 2025
Biden blocks Nippon Steel deal

With less than two weeks in US President Joe Biden’s term, the outgoing president blocked Japan’s Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9B purchase of US Steel, citing national security and supply chain concerns.

3 January, 2025