According to a senior Pentagon official, the United States (US) and India will jointly develop drones in a bid to build tighter ties with New Delhi to combat China’s growing influence.
On Thursday, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner confirmed that India will build these aircraft and export them to “our partners across the region, including in South and Southeast Asia, at affordable price points.”
He also noted that the US wants to “support India” in expanding its defence arsenal, which is mostly imported from Russia, and develop its defence industry. “In practical terms, that means that we’re going to be working closely with India on co-producing and co-developing capabilities that will support India’s own defence modernisation goals,” Ratner remarked.
Pentagon confirms that India & US are working on joint development of military drones. India will manufacture them & export it to nations in Asia and SEA which will make them affordable for India and other developing nations.
— Jayess (@Sootradhar) September 23, 2022
Green Revolution 2.0!!!https://t.co/wAcoPuL17Z
He also mentioned that the Pentagon is looking at near and medium-term “opportunities to co-produce major capabilities,” such as producing drones that can be launched from aeroplanes and anti-drone defence systems.
“We’re having good conversations with our counterparts in the Indian government at the highest levels about our respective priorities in that regard, and we hope to have more to announce on this front before too long,” Ratner noted.
In May, it was reported that the US was reportedly deliberating on a $500 million military aid package for India in a bid to reduce its reliance on Russian weapons. It forms part of a wider outreach strategy by the Biden administration to avoid levying sanctions against a key ally in the Indo-Pacific by offering it alternatives to Russian imports.
An unnamed official told Bloomberg that the package could include fighter jets, naval ships, and battle tanks and would make India one of the largest beneficiaries of US military aid after Egypt and Israel.
The US and its allies view India as a “key security partner” in shoring up their defences against China in the Indo-Pacific. In this regard, the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a 2+2 meeting in Washington in April: “We’re doing all this because the United States supports India as a defence industry leader in the Indo-Pacific and a net provider of security in the region.” He added, “And we all understand the challenges that we face there. The People’s Republic of China is seeking to refashion the region and the international system more broadly in ways that serve its interests.”
In a similar vein, Ratner asserted that the US-India partnership is “central to our vision for a free and open Indo Pacific.” “While there may be bumps in the road along the way, we are really focused on the long game which is building our partnership into the future and supporting India’s ability to shape a favourable balance of power in the Indo Pacific,” he stressed.
Earlier this month, Ratner visited India to co-chair the sixth US-India 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue and the fifth Maritime Security Dialogue in New Delhi alongside US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, Additional Secretary of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Vani Rao, and Col. Shailender Arya from the Indian Ministry of Defence.
The officials “advanced an ambitious set of initiatives across the breadth” of their partnership, including in defence and security, science and technology, climate, public health, trade, and people-to-people ties. The quartet also reviewed “progress toward operationalising major bilateral initiatives on information-sharing, defense industrial cooperation, and joint service engagements to support combined, multi-domain operations,” and committed to increasing cooperation in space, cyber, artificial intelligence, and other defence technology areas.
According to a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (@ficci_india) and EY India, the country's domestic drone manufacturing industry can be worth Rs. 1.8 lakh
— IBEF (@Brands_India) September 22, 2022
crore (US$ 22.62 billion) in the next eight years. #RecentUpdates pic.twitter.com/dgYgQv2mFf
Defence ties between India and the US significantly expanded in 2016 after Washington named New Delhi a “major defence partner.” It subsequently signed several bilateral agreements to transfer high-end weapons and deepen defence cooperation.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Ey and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) titled ‘Making India the drone hub of the world’ released earlier this month, the Indian drone industry can bolster the country’s manufacturing potential to about $23 billion by 2030.