NEW DELHI: New Delhi: Far away from the raging bilateral tariff tensions, India and the US on Monday kicked off one of their largest-ever Army `Yudh Abhyas' exercise in Alaska, even as planning is underway to conduct the top-notch
Malabar naval exercise among the `Quad’ countries off Guam in the Western Pacific in Nov.
India-US ties may have plummeted after President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on New Delhi, but defence officials say the bilateral strategic partnership assiduously built over the last two decades, with defence cooperation being its cornerstone, is in no danger of unravelling as yet.
“It’s early days yet…though mutual trust has taken a big hit, there is too much at stake,” an official said. Just in terms of defence acquisitions, the delivery of 99 GE-F404 turbofan engines by US firm General Electric, which HAL contracted for $716 million in Aug 2021 to power the all-important indigenous Tejas Mark-1A fighters, has just about begun after a two-year delay. India is also getting set to sign another deal with GE for 113 more such engines for $1 billion.
Apart from other deals, India is also slated to receive 31-armed MQ-9B`Predator’ high-altitude, long endurance drones, ordered from the US for $3.8 billion in Oct last year, in the 2029-30 timeframe.
The US has bagged lucrative Indian defence deals worth over $25 billion since 2007, though there might be a re-think on future arms deals if the downward trajectory in bilateral ties continues amid the ongoing geopolitical churn unleashed by Trump.
India, in pursuit of its “strategic autonomy”, of course, has already accelerated its re-engagement with China despite the continuing trust deficit on the border, while steadfastly sticking to its long-standing strategic-defence ties with Russia.
Far away in the subarctic climate of Fort Wainwright in Alaska, over 450 Madras Regiment soldiers will undertake a spectrum of high-altitude tactical drills with troops from the 5th Infantry Regiment “Bobcats” of the Arctic Wolves Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division of the US, till Sept 14.
“Over two weeks, the troops will rehearse joint heliborne operations, employment of surveillance resources and unmanned aerial systems, rock-craft, mountain warfare, casualty evacuation, combat medical aid and the integrated use of artillery, aviation and electronic warfare systems,” an Army officer said.
Parallelly, India, the US, Australia and Japan are finalising the operational details for the upcoming 29
th edition of the high-voltage Malabar naval exercise off Guam. The Malabar began as a bilateral endeavour between India and the US in 1992but includes all “Quad” countries now, with an eye firmly on China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific and their resolve to deter any coercion in the crucial region.
India and the US have been steadily cranking up the scope, strength, complexity and frequency of their bilateral exercises, while stepping-up participation in multilateral ones, as part of their “strategic partnership and convergence” over the years.
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