But because of China`s obvious and current danger, Washington`s strategic embrace by New Delhi is the obvious result. The Indian defense company has already deployed at least five U.S. platforms on the LAC – C-17 Globemaster III for military transport, Boeing Chinook CH-47 as a heavy helicopter, Boeing Apache as a tank killer, P-8I Poseidon for land reconnaissance and Lockheed Martins C-130J for aircraft lifts. But while our internal political debates are highly polarized, this is a subject on which no political party worth the salt is ready to sound the cat. Whether we should form alliances is not the problem. Perhaps Indian interests require that we do not need alliances. But the possibility of excluding it entirely, simply because a confused conception of “strategic autonomy” hinders our thinking, is downright dangerous, even silly. However, the transposition of this issue into practical agreements required three other basic agreements to comply with U.S. law. Last month, India and the United States signed the BECA agreement, which provides for the exchange of high-end military technology, geo-maps and classified satellite data between their military. In October 2016, India and Russia reached a comprehensive agreement to create a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and two Russian defence majors for the acquisition of 200 Kamov Ka-226T Choppers for the Indian armed forces.

LEMOA is very useful for cooperation between the Indian and American navies, as the two countries work closely together in the Indo-Pacific space. To put the usefulness of this agreement in simple terms, it is like being able to stop in a friend`s garage or workshop to refuel your car or have it repaired if you are away from your own home or workshop. “As far as our defence cooperation with India is concerned, it is immune to foreign restrictions and interference because it reflects the national interests of both countries and we are making great progress in the future progress of our relations,” Babushkin said. Following the signing of these “basic” military agreements, joint Indo-American exercises are now expected to lead to advanced and operational maneuvers from previous tactical exercises. Indian forces would be introduced and trained in new data-centric concepts of warfare under the cloud architecture. U.S. arms sales are clearly at the heart of these fundamental agreements, which attempt to promote military transfers to partner countries in order to “normalize” their defence systems to facilitate interoperability. This has been expressed by many U.S. officials, such as R. Clarke Cooper, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political Military (PM) Affairs.

This is an extremely serious consequence of the American commitment, as it can lead to a long-term decoupling of Russian military platforms, with many undesirable consequences for relations with Russia. India would have a high cost if it alienated Russia in an increasingly multipolar world, both geopolitically and in the vicinity of India. Finally, will all the benefits be available in practice by the United States at any time, against all adversaries and in real time, regardless of the circumstances? Or will they only intervene if India undertakes joint operations with the United States? Chinese aggression has prevented New Delhi from continuing with the usual “commitment where possible” because there are few areas where engagement between the two Asian neighbours seems possible.