Article
India-US Defence Cooperation: Current Status and the Road Ahead

By : Anil Ahuja

Page No: 359-375

Abstract
This paper reviews the trajectory of India-US defence cooperation under the strategic partnership forged over the last two decades. Efforts to deepen defence engagement during the last stages of the Obama 2.0 Presidency were sustained and, intensified during Trump 1.0. The Biden administration maintained the positive trend by shifting focus from a Pentagon-led engagement to one steered by the US State Department, placing emphasis on defence industrial cooperation and emerging technologies. Concerns, however, continue to prevail over the lack of substantial technology collaboration yet. Early indications suggest that the Trump Administration is highly transactional and unpredictable. The course of foreign policy towards China is yet to emerge clearly. This uncertainty suggests the need for India to “manage” this long-nurtured relationship, particularly in the field of defence, while reinvigorating efforts towards building its own capabilities and maintaining multiple issue-based relationships. Key drivers of the collaboration with the US include the mutual goal of countering Chinese belligerence against India and in the Indo-Pacific, complementing India's capability development efforts and bilateral efforts to maintain a technological edge. For the US, securing favourable access to Indian markets, including in defence, seems a key driver currently. Keeping defence and security relations insulated from other areas of dissonance (and turbulence) and maintaining a partnership of “trust” is crucial.

Author
Lt. Gen. Anil Ahuja (Retd.) is a Distinguished Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF). He is a former Corps Commander and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff for Policy Planning and Force Development. He has been the Co-Chair of India – US Inter Agency Task Force on Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). He has also served as India’s Defence Attaché to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
 

DOI: http://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2025.08.03.6