US supports India's rise as great power, says senior State Department official

The US supports Indias rise as a great power, and this will be central to ensuring American interests in the years ahead, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday, on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modis high-level talks with President Joe Biden at the White House.Underlining that India and the US see each other as key security partners in the Indo-Pacific and partners of first resort, the official said one illustration of that is that we do more military exercises with each other than in any other country.

The US supports India's rise as a great power, and this will be central to ensuring American interests in the years ahead, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday, on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-level talks with President Joe Biden at the White House.

Underlining that India and the US see each other as key security partners in the Indo-Pacific and partners of first resort, the official said one illustration of that is that we do more military exercises with each other than in any other country. ''The US supports India's rise as a great power, and this will be central to ensuring US interests in the years ahead. Our relationship is deeper and more expansive than ever. We saw that during the Covid pandemic, working together in the Quad and in driving innovation in science and technology," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the official, the visit has six themes - defence, technology, business and innovation, education and travel.

''First on the defence relationship. We have the status of being major defence partners. That means that we are accelerating our defence relationship with co-development and co-production arrangements. We are involved in information sharing, improving our logistics networks, and ensuring that our forces and communications are interoperable,'' the official said.

On technology partnership, the official said that through the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies, we are working together in semiconductors, advanced telecoms, biotech, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. ''One example of this is our cooperation on open radio access networks or open ran to offer global alternatives to the PRC's (People's Republic of China) closed system of telecom technology," the official said.

On Climate cooperation, the official said the US supports India's ambitious goals to deploy 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. ''In order to do this, India will need the support of all of its partners in attracting finance and cutting-edge technology and to deploy that at scale. As the third largest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and the US and with a rapidly growing economy, India's energy future will determine in large part whether we as a planet succeed or fail in managing the climate crisis.'' The official said the bilateral trade has doubled in the last nine years. ''We are India's biggest trading partner. Both of us invest heavily in each other's economies and cooperation between Silicon Valley and Bangalore has created the tech revolution that has changed our world forever.'' On education and travel, the official said that each year over a million Indians and Americans travel back and forth between the two countries. ''We host nearly 200,000 Indian students here in the US. The Indian diaspora in the US drives innovation and business medicine, the arts and engineering. We are on track this year to process over 1 million visa applications in India. That will be a record for the US,'' said the official.

''And lastly, cooperation on space exploration. We expect some exciting announcements during the Prime Minister's visit about cooperation in the area of human space exploration, advancing research in space to support science here on earth and collaboration in support of creating rules for governing how countries explore the moon Mars and beyond," said the official.

When asked about some of the industrial packages that might be announced after Modi-Biden talks, the official said, ''I don't want to get ahead of the announcements that will be made tomorrow, but some of the technology we're discussing, I hope that you'll see tomorrow, is a real vote of confidence for this relationship and India's capacity as a defence manufacturer. What you will hear tomorrow are announcements about (co-production) of military systems.'' On India's reliance on Russian arms, the official said, ''In 2008 we had essentially sold nothing to India; but in 2020 that was USD 20 billion, and it's rising exponentially every year. We're not alone - many other partners are working in India, increasingly on the same terms we are - co-production and co-development. At the same time, you see cancellations of major systems from Russia because (we know) Russia cannot provide it.'' The official said that India is in the process of diversifying its dependence on any (single) supplier.

When asked about the Ukraine conflict and whether India can play the role of a mediator, the official said that over the last several months there has been some shift on the Indian position on the war in Ukraine.

''India has a long history of relations with Russia. They have interests with Russia that go back many, many decades. I think it's a positive thing that Modi has said that this must be settled through dialogue and diplomacy. What I think you'll also see is that, while the US and India differ on our exact policies on Russia and Ukraine, we share a belief that this must be settled through diplomacy and must end in a lasting peace according to the UN Charter and its founding principles,'' the official added.

Since the Ukraine conflict began in February last year, Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a number of times during which he insisted that the conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Answering a question on India's purchase of discounted oil from Russia, the official said that there have been many times in the past that India has bought Russian crude at half the price. ''If we as a global community are looking to deprive Russia of resources to fight its war in Ukraine - somebody is going to buy that oil, I'd rather it be someone buying it at very low prices,'' the official added.

When asked if the US was on the same page with India about now not being the time for diplomacy in the conflict, the official said, ''What the Indian government has said - let me just quote what I read from the Indian government - a settlement based on diplomacy and dialogue, and based on the UN Charter and its founding principles. For me, that means territorial integrity and sovereignty. Indians might characterise that in a million ways, but that's what I hear when I hear Indians say that.'' Responding to a question, the official confirmed that China will come up during the discussion. ''Of course, for (India) and the US, part of thinking about our defence is how we prevent any country from having dominance over the international system. That has nuances for China but it's not only China - it's about allowing Asia to be free and open, allowing sea lanes to be free and open.''