Investing in the Future of U.S.-India Defense Relations
Thank you all for coming,
and especially to Jack Garrity for
that kind introduction.
It is an honor to be here at the Asia Society, which for more than five decades
has guided Americans toward a better understanding of the world's largest and
most populous continent. Today that mission is more important than ever.
Standing at the vanguard of Asia's emergence
is the country that I am here to speak about today. India is both
an age-old civilization and a modern marvel-a land that for centuries captured
the imagination of traders and travelers. One of our most famous writers
and observers of the human condition, Mark Twain, recognized the grandeur of India when he observed, "So far as I am
able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most
extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have
been forgotten, nothing overlooked."
Today, India
boasts the world's second-fastest growing economy and one of its most
innovative technology hubs. Its scientists and engineers are in demand across
the globe. And its contributions to global culture-from Bollywood blockbusters
to high literature-rival those of any nation.
Most importantly for my purposes, India
is playing an increasingly important role in world affairs at a time when its
relations with the United
States have never been stronger.
I need not remind this audience that our nations were slower to come together
as partners than might have been expected, given our many shared values and
deep commitment to democracy. But American leaders have long recognized
the potential for closer cooperation to enhance each country's security.
While Cold War politics made such cooperation impossible for decades, President
Clinton's much-celebrated visit to India in 2000 launched a new era of
cooperation. Since then: bilateral trade between our countries has
tripled, we reached a landmark agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and our
security relations were strengthened in the wake of terrorist attacks that
devastated both of our nations.
The Obama Administration has worked tirelessly to enhance this relationship. It was no accident that President Obama hosted Prime Minister Singh and his
wife at the first State Dinner, or that the President referred to our
relationship with India that night as "one of the defining partnerships of
the 21st Century." It was no accident that the National Security Strategy
released this spring calls the relationship with India a top priority. And it
is no accident that more than a third of the Cabinet, including my boss,
Secretary Gates, visited India
in the 18 months since the President took office.
Some critics in Washington and New Delhi have suggested
the Obama Administration is not as committed to U.S.-India relations as its
predecessors were. Other critics assert that this Administration sees India solely through the lens of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Still others think
that the absence of high-profile, headline-grabbing deals and accomplishments
over the last 18 months suggests that we don't view this relationship as
important.
Such criticisms miss the mark completely. The U.S.-India relationship is
not built on, and cannot be sustained on, grand gestures or brief moments of
crisis, but on shared interests and values.
I look forward to making my first visit to India in the coming weeks, and can
assure you that the Pentagon is committed to further strengthening these ties
through the enhancement of our defense relationship. This bond is grounded in
common democratic values and converging interests that make India and U.S. natural partners. The U.S. and India have an overarching shared
interest in promoting global stability and security. Increasingly our
specific security interests are converging. Let me give just three
examples.
First, both the U.S. and
Indian economies rely on effective maritime security to preserve free passage
in the Indian Ocean and surrounding waterways. Sea lines of communication are fundamental to our continued prosperity, and we
have a mutual interest in their security.
Second, both countries have an abiding interest in countering the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. Together, our efforts will help counter
this threat to regional and global security.
Third, we are both committed to promoting global stability and security. India's
post-conflict capacity building efforts span the globe, and it remains one of
staunchest supporters of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.
Within South Asia, both of our nations are committed to the long-term
stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
We know as the US mission in
Afghanistan
evolves, we must continue to provide robust support for Afghan stability,
governance and development. India
is playing a positive role in Afghanistan's
economic and social development and we know that help will continue. We
highly value India's role--
and the sacrifices Indian citizens have made-- in building economic and social
opportunities in Afghanistan.
We see India's continued
involvement in Afghanistan's
development as a key part of that country's future success.
Grounded in these shared interests, our defense relationship has grown
substantially since we completed a defense framework agreement in 2005,
outlining ten areas of cooperation, including maritime security,
counter-proliferation, and peacekeeping operations. As participants noted
during the recent Strategic Dialogue, our defense relations have evolved from
solely military-to-military links into a more comprehensive relationship that
encompasses dialogues, exercises, defense sales, and practical cooperation.
At the apex of the US/India defense relationship is the Defense Policy Group,
which I look forward to co-chairing this fall. The DPG has been an
excellent forum for planning our engagement, airing our concerns, and
exchanging views on strategic issues. We also have dialogues that discuss our
defense trade, service-to-service cooperation, technical cooperation, and a
group dedicated to developing and ensuring procedures for keeping our
technology secure.
The growth and comprehensiveness of this relationship is nothing short of
remarkable. My Indian counterparts now tell me that their defense and security
relations with the United
States are as close as they are with any
nation. Anyone who followed these issues during the Cold War knows well such
ties once seemed impossible. Great credit must go to those who over the years
have helped us get here, several of whom are here with us today.
Together, we in the Department of Defense and our Indian counterparts now face
the challenge of sustaining and expanding upon these gains. In the past, we
used to talk about how we could do more - more exercises, more high-level
visits. Now, we face a task that is equally important and challenging --
creating the conditions where close US-India defense cooperation is normal,
expected, and routine. Cementing a fully formed bilateral relationship
requires more than formal visits and high-level dialogues-it's about
day-in-day-out cooperation at all levels. Such interactions may not make as
many headlines, but routine contacts are in many ways the most important
bilateral business we conduct.
Take, for example our bilateral exercises. U.S.-India military exercises
have grown in size, scope, and sophistication since 2005. We now have
regular exercises across all services. And the complexity of these
exercises is increasing as both militaries become more familiar with each
others' methods of operation. We also look forward to more multilateral
activity with India
throughout Asia in order to build patterns of cooperation among regional
militaries to respond to various crises such as the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami. A prime example of such multilateral activity
has been the Malabar naval exercises that have been conducted in the past with Japan and other
countries and that we hope to build on in the future..
Another growth area is our burgeoning trade in defense equipment, including the
Indian purchases of C-130J and P-8I aircraft. I am and will continue to be a
strong advocate of U.S.
solutions for India's
defense needs. U.S. companies are eager to work with India as the Indian military
continues its modernization. Today, two American companies are among the leading competitors for a $10 billion sale of 126 advanced fighter aircraft to the
Indian air force, currently the world's biggest defense tender. And we
are also looking at future sales of the C-17 aircraft as another example of
near term defense sales.
I want to underscore that we in the Department of Defense do not view defense
sales as mere commercial transactions. We understand that India is making
a strategic as well as an economic choice when it makes defense acquisitions.
Obviously, the commercial benefits of defense sales to the U.S. economy
can't be denied, but from a DoD perspective, these sales are most important to
building a strategic partnership that will allow both our countries to
cooperate more effectively in the future. Whether the scenario involves
humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism cooperation, or maritime security
activities, having common equipment will allow more seamless cooperation.
India
is, of course, also seeking to build its own indigenous defense industry, and
is looking for the best technologies to use in its defense sector. The U.S. is committed to providing India with
top-of-the-line technology, and we have backed up our commitment by approving
the overwhelming majority of licenses requested last year. Secretary
Gates has made export control reform a key priority, and we see streamlining
and modernizing our export control system as a national security issue, one
that affects our ability to build effective partnerships.
Going forward, we see several promising opportunities to further develop our
burgeoning defense ties.
We will continue to work with India
on countering the spread of WMD through maritime cooperation, dialogue, and
identifying new technologies to combat this threat.
We will continue to build on our experience working together on disaster
assistance and humanitarian relief, and develop procedures to facilitate more
seamless cooperation in future contingencies.
We will look at ways in which, together, we can better secure the
global commons by expanding our already robust cooperation in air, space,
cyberspace and maritime initiatives And to counter the scourge of piracy, we
will work to translate recent joint naval exercises into real world operations.
These proposed areas of cooperation highlight some of the most difficult
security challenges facing both of our countries, and reinforce the need for us
to work together as India
builds its military capabilities. The United
States also maintains a strong interest in India's emergence as a regional power in Asia. The Obama administration is committed to
strengthening regional partnerships, to build an international system capable
of addressing challenges that have no respect for borders. In Asia, this means it no longer makes sense to discuss this
increasingly interconnected region in terms of "East Asian" security,
or "South Asian" security.
It also means that the security of Asia's two
dominant powers can no longer be viewed as a zero sum game. A safer, more
secure India that is closer
to the United States should
not be seen a threat to China,
and vice versa.
Indeed, all three countries play an important role in that region's stability.
The United States recognizes
and welcomes the growing cooperation between India
and China
on security affairs in recent years. And both India
and the United States seek a
closer relationship with China,
while encouraging Beijing
to be more transparent about its military capabilities and intentions.
I am aware that some observers believe that the United
States sees India-indeed, all of South Asia-through the
prism of our efforts in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. I am here to tell you that we see India as far more than a vital
partner on these issues. It is also an indispensable partner in
addressing all of the regional challenges we face. And in the coming
years, I believe India
will strengthen its role in the security of its region. We welcome this
development because, for all of the reasons I have already mentioned, India's success is very much in America's
national interest. But it is also because India has long been, and remains, a
bellwether for the challenges and aspirations of a host of other nations
inspired by its success.
As we move forward, we will continue to develop our defense relationship with India. It won't
be always easy, and it won't always be glamorous. It will require much hard
work and dialogue to promote a better understanding of each other's
decision-making processes and ways of operating. However, as former President
Clinton stated during his historic trip to India in March of 2000, "We
want India to be strong; to be secure; to be united; to be a force for a safer,
more prosperous, more democratic world. Whatever we ask of you, we ask in that
spirit alone. Our task is to turn a common vision into common achievements so
that partners in spirit can be partners in fact. We have already come a
long way to this day of new beginnings, but we still have promises to keep,
challenges to meet and hopes to redeem."
Of course, there will inevitably be moments in which we won't see eye to eye.
But this is so in the strongest of relationships, and in the end, the test of a
relationship isn't the absence of these moments-it is the presence of mutual
respect and a commitment to shared goals that can see the relationship through
the ups and downs.
Let me end by saying that this is precisely why I have so much confidence in
the future of our partnership with India. Our nations have so much in
common, from our democratic values to our converging interests. So
although I don't know exactly what the future will look like, I'm certain that
our deepening partnership will help shape a future defined not by crisis, but
by our shared vision of a stable and prosperous world.
Thank
you very much.