For the first time in history, the United States and India will conduct joint military exercises. The corresponding announcement at a joint event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was made by US President Donald Trump.
“In November, the United States and India will demonstrate tremendous progress in defense relations at the first ever joint military exercises involving three combat arms called the Tiger Triumph, which will be held in India. We are committed to protecting the citizens of India and America from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, ”said the President of the United States.
In turn, Narendra Modi called Trump "a true friend of India and a great American president."
On Sunday, September 22, in the city of Houston (Texas), the forum Howdy, Modi! Was organized by the Indian diaspora in the USA in honor of the visit of the Prime Minister of India According to the organizers, more than 50 thousand people submitted applications for attending the event.
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However, a few months ago, the relations between the two countries could not be called so close. Since the fall of 2018, New Delhi and Washington exchanged unfriendly statements, and in June 2019, a trade war actually began between India and the United States - Trump accused Delhi of refusing to provide American goods with equal access to the Indian market.
But one of the main reasons for the disagreement between the two countries was the expansion of military-technical cooperation between India and Russia in the field of arms purchases. In particular, the United States strongly opposed India’s plans to purchase Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. However, despite Washington’s protest, Modi did not refuse the deal. A $ 5.43 billion S-400 purchase agreement between Moscow and New Delhi was signed in 2018. In September 2019, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov announced that India would receive Russian anti-aircraft missile systems within 18-19 months. According to him, the contract has already been advanced.
Building relationships
According to experts, the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister to the United States and an agreement on joint exercises indicate that the United States is worried about the rapprochement of India and Russia. Modi has stepped up contacts with Moscow - in addition to the S-400, India can buy Su-30MKI aircraft and AK-203 assault rifles from the Russian Federation.
“The rapprochement between New Delhi and Moscow has become too obvious. This cannot but bother Trump. He perfectly understands that the most terrible threat to American supremacy in the world is the union of China, Russia and India. So the President of the United States is doing everything to prevent such an alliance, ”said Sergei Sudakov, a corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences in an interview with RT.
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Experts also draw attention to the fact that Trump’s change of position with respect to India is connected with the internal political situation in the republic. Modi and the National Democratic Alliance coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which includes the Prime Minister himself, confidently bypassed the Indian National Congress opposition party in the parliamentary elections this spring.
“That is, it became clear that Modi will not go anywhere, he will have to deal with him further,” Sudakov explained.
The change in American rhetoric regarding New Delhi began in June, when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in India. In the same month, Trump and Modi held talks during the G20 summit in Japan.
Associate Professor of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University Boris Volkhonsky notes that economically the United States and India are important enough for each other. Therefore, despite the existing disagreements on a number of issues, it is more profitable for them to cooperate. In an interview with RT, the expert recalled that the United States began to abandon the one-sided orientation toward Pakistan in South Asia, which Washington adhered to during the Cold War, back in the 1990s.
“The rapprochement between the United States and India began under President Bill Clinton, but it intensified especially under George W. Bush,” Volkhonsky said.
He also recalled that the key to strategic cooperation between New Delhi and Washington is the presence of a large Indian diaspora in the United States. It exceeds three million people, and its number is growing every year. Given the upcoming presidential election in the United States in 2020, Trump cannot ignore the votes of several million of his voters and engage in a serious conflict with India.
Experts recall that Indians are traditionally supporters of Democrats, not Republicans. Thus, trying to achieve the location of the Indian diaspora, Trump expects to receive an additional electorate.
Make friends to a known limit
At the same time, experts caution against attempts to exaggerate the degree of rapprochement between New Delhi and Washington. The first joint military exercises in the history of the two countries is an important event, but it does not indicate the beginning of the formation of the Indian-American military alliance.
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“India is not a country that will enter into alliances with someone, let alone build relations with one country to the detriment of another,” says Volkhonsky.
The expert believes that the option in which India sends its troops to participate in armed actions under the auspices of the United States, for example, in the Gulf region, is absolutely excluded. She will not be "friends" with Washington against China.
“Now the position of India is unequivocal: only peacekeeping actions under the auspices of the UN and nothing else. The country has its own problems with China, but it will not solve them by creating military alliances. This is the principle line of Indian foreign policy. It will change only if there are some very serious changes in the world that do not leave New Delhi any other choice, ”Volkhonsky believes.
According to Sergei Sudakov, Narendra Modi is trying to maintain parity in relations with the powers. Therefore, the country's foreign policy will not be pro-American.
“The Indian Prime Minister believes that when it comes to the interests of other influential states, the principle of the“ golden mean ”must be followed. From his point of view, it is necessary to build relations with Washington, and Moscow, and Beijing so that New Delhi always has freedom of action and freedom of decision-making, ”the political scientist believes.
Based on this, experts are not afraid that the joint exercises of the US and Indian armed forces will affect Russian-Indian contacts, including in the defense sphere.
“Now relations between Russia and India are at the best level in the last thirty years. And the teachings of the Tiger Triumph will not change them for the worse, ”concluded Boris Volkhonsky.