Why in the News?

• India and the United States have entered a new phase in their strategic and defence partnership with the signing of a 10-year “Framework for the India-U.S. Major Defence Partnership”.
• The agreement was formalised on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Kuala Lumpur.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• India-U.S. Defence Cooperation (Background, Highlights of Framework, Significance, Strategic Convergence, etc.)

Background of India-U.S. Defence Cooperation

• Defence cooperation between India and the U.S. has been one of the strongest pillars of their bilateral relationship, evolving steadily over the past two decades.
• The partnership began taking concrete shape with the 2005 Defence Framework Agreement, renewed in 2015, which emphasised joint military exercises, maritime security, and defence trade.
• Since then, both countries have established foundational agreements to enhance interoperability and information sharing:

• LEMOA (2016): Enabled reciprocal access to military facilities for logistics support.
• COMCASA (2018): Facilitated secure communications between the two militaries.
• BECA (2020): Enabled the exchange of geospatial intelligence and mapping data.
• SOSA (2024): Ensured the security of supply chains in critical defence materials.

• The signing of the 2025 Framework extends this cooperation into the next decade, institutionalising long-term collaboration in defence manufacturing, joint technology development, and strategic coordination in the Indo-Pacific.

Highlights of the 10-Year Defence Framework

• The newly signed framework outlines an ambitious roadmap for comprehensive defence collaboration between India and the United States. Key highlights include:

• Unified Policy Direction: The framework provides a structured policy roadmap to enhance collaboration across military, industrial, and technological domains.
• Technology and Industrial Cooperation: Both sides have agreed to expand cooperation in co-production and co-development of advanced defence systems, with an emphasis on indigenous manufacturing in India under the “Make in India, Make for the World” initiative.
• Information and Intelligence Sharing: Strengthening intelligence exchange and coordination mechanisms to counter emerging security threats, including cyber and maritime challenges.
• Joint Military Exercises: Continuation and expansion of regular bilateral and multilateral exercises such as Yudh Abhyas, Malabar, and Tiger Triumph.
• Regional Security Commitment: Reinforcing a joint vision for a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific, with deterrence against coercive activities in the region.

Significance of the Defence Partnership

• The new defence framework comes at a crucial juncture in global geopolitics.
• The Indo-Pacific has become the epicentre of strategic competition, with China’s assertive posturing and growing influence prompting deeper security cooperation among like-minded nations. The framework thus serves multiple strategic purposes:

• Enhancing Regional Stability: Reinforces India’s position as a net security provider in the Indo-Pacific.
• Boosting Defence Technology Transfer: Encourages U.S. firms to invest and collaborate in India’s defence production ecosystem, particularly under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).
• Mitigating Supply Chain Risks: Reduces dependence on singular sources of defence imports by diversifying technology and production partnerships.
• Countering Trade Tensions: Despite Washington’s imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian goods, both countries have demonstrated that strategic and defence cooperation remain insulated from trade-related friction.

The Indo-Pacific and Strategic Convergence

• The 10-year defence roadmap aligns closely with the shared vision of maintaining peace, freedom of navigation, and sovereignty in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Both nations, along with partners in the Quad (India, U.S., Japan, and Australia), aim to ensure that the region remains free from coercive dominance.
• By integrating India more deeply into global defence supply chains and security dialogues, the framework enhances New Delhi’s strategic leverage while contributing to the U.S. vision of integrated deterrence in Asia.