In less than 10 days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the US. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, anticipated that the “visit will celebrate the deep partnership” between the two countries. As for its content, shorn of the trappings of a state visit, the US focus is on arms export. Hopes have been raised that beyond military exercises on ‘beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills,’ so as to strengthen defence preparedness to wage war against some indeterminate enemy in an inchoate future, Washington may pay heed to long-standing Indian entreaties to dip its toes into co-production of weapons in India and allowing for transfer of technology.
How far nascent hopes will turn into reality remains uncertain but the ‘mood-setting’ visit by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to New Delhi offers a clue. Austin may not be much of a combat veteran, but he is immensely experienced in the working of the military-industrial complex in the US, having served in the board of directors of arms manufacturing companies. ‘Have money, will travel,’ to tweak the catchy title of the Richard Boone television series of yesteryear, would have been Austin’s core message to the Indian government, padded up with the geopolitical discourse in relation to the Indo-Pacific.
In the estimation of the US Department of State, the sales of American military equipment to foreign governments rose by a whopping 49 per cent to $205.6 billion in 2022-23. The war in Ukraine significantly helped boost business. Indeed, under the lend-and-lease agreement, Ukraine is expected to pay for the US weaponry being supplied. Besides, NATO allies which transferred their existing Cold War inventory of outdated weapons to Ukraine are getting replacements with newly produced American weaponry.
Source : Tribune India
