With Another Initiative, DoD Aims To Balance Complex Relationship with India
On June 21, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced the India U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem, or INDUS-X, partnership with the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD). The new partnership aims to expand strategic technology use and build further defense industrial base cooperation between the two militaries and their domestic businesses and academic institutions, according to a fact sheet from the DoD. “This initiative builds on a commitment by the U.S. and Indian National Security Advisors in January 2023 to launch an ‘Innovation Bridge’ to connect U.S. and Indian defense start-ups as part of the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology,” DoD stated.
The partnership comes at a time when the United States is forging stronger relationships in the Indo-Pacific region—and globally—to face near-peer adversaries, including China, identified as the biggest threat to U.S. national security, and Russia. The relationship with India is tricky, especially with the procurement by India of military equipment from Russia, including the S-400s surface-to-air missile system, also purchased by China and Turkey.
“We encourage all of our partners and allies to avoid transactions with Russia,” said DoD Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on June 20. “That's something that we've continued to reiterate with Turkey, with India, and with others.”
As far as why the United States is not taking sanctions against India as it did with Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, Singh indicted that the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sees it as two different cases. “And when it comes to India, we remain confident in their diversification of equipment and our ability to integrate with them as well,” she said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Washington this week, including a state visit today with the White House and State Department officials, which Secretary Austin will attend, Singh confirmed. “We welcome President Modi's visit to the United States this week,” she said. “Secretary Austin visited India just two weeks ago and was able to meet with his counterpart there. That visit was really about deepening Indian and U.S. relations and continuing military cooperation. We're not asking countries to choose between us and China. And again, we do not seek conflict with China. We encourage competition in a healthy and safe way but we're not seeking countries to choose sides here. I think this will be another opportunity for the secretary to engage with India, his counterparts here at the state dinner and just further deepen cooperation between our two countries.”
The INDUS-X effort will be another venue to drive more collaboration, the DoD indicated. The effort started with a two-day catalyst event, hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Also in attendance were investors, defense companies, technology accelerators, industry associations, startup companies, research organizations and other government agencies.
The parties have also set specific collaboration plans and promise the use of metrics to measure progress. They will engage mostly via a senior advisor group that will make recommendations to the two militaries and other INDUS-X stakeholders. In addition, several organizations will “convene follow-on programming to drive implementation of the collaboration,” including the United States Institute of Peace, Carnegie India, the U.S.-India Business Council, the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum and the Society of Indian Defense Manufacturers.
When it comes to India, we remain confident in their diversification of equipment and our ability to integrate with them as well.
Regarding industry activities under INDUS-X, several involve startup companies, with Indian and U.S. defense companies indicating they will support mentorships and explore options for supply chain collaborations. In addition, coding and other information technology organizations “have expressed their intent to explore opportunities to provide startups with jointly defined problem sets, mentoring, and exposure in defense commercialization, business development, product refinement, technology advancement, funding opportunities, and more,” the DoD stated.
Several universities are also getting involved. “Pennsylvania State University, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, and IIT Kanpur have expressed their intent to lead best practice workshops with Indian and American universities and accelerator partners, such as labs, Technology Hub, IITs, and Hacking for India, to exchange best practices in defense innovation, fielding, and commercialization,” the DoD noted.
The INDUS-X also includes several public-private partnerships, such as prize challenges, laboratory testing and certification, joint funding, easing of some trade regulations and standardization efforts.
