U.S.-India Bilateral Security and Regional Cooperation

Since the inauguration of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue in 2010, the United States and India have advanced their security cooperation in a range of critical areas, including defense cooperation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and research and development, Afghan security, counterpiracy and maritime security, counterterrorism, homeland, and border security, cyber security and cybercrime, illicit finance, and megacity policing. This remarkable growth has been realized through a range of enhanced consultations and formal dialogues, including the Defense Policy Group, the Homeland Security Dialogue Ministerial, the Counterterrorism Joint Working Group, ongoing Cyber Consultations, Political-Military talks, and our Strategic Dialogue. A number of recent developments highlight the ongoing strong momentum in security and defense cooperation:

Defense Cooperation

• Defense Sales and Co-Production: The United States and India continue to develop their defense partnership through military sales and joint research, co-production and co-development. With more than $9 billion dollars in sales over the last decade and another $10 billion in the pipeline, U.S. defense sales to India will create hundreds of U.S. jobs.
  
• Humanitarian Assistance and Peacekeeping: Through defense sales, the United States and India will have the largest C-17 transport fleets in the world, strengthening their ability to deliver humanitarian assistance across the region and facilitating their continued roles in United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world.
  
• Joint Military Exercises: In 2011 the United States participated in 56 cooperative events across all services with India—more than India has with any other country. These include the Malabar, Shatrujeet, and Yudh Abhayas exercises.
  
• Recovery of U.S. Service Member Remains: In support of the United States’ commitment to accounting for all Americans missing from past conflicts, India has agreed to resume U.S. missions to recover service member remains in India. There are an estimated 400 unaccounted for U.S. service members in Northeast India, primarily as a result of WWII aircraft crashes.

Regional Stability

• Afghanistan and Regional Stability: In support of advancing stability in Afghanistan, India has committed over $2 billion to development since 2001. In addition, both India and the United States have signed Strategic Partnership Agreements with Afghanistan and continue to partner in support of security.

Homeland and Cyber Security

• Homeland Security: Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute has visited India and received a range of high-level Indian officials in Washington in support of the Department of Homeland Security-Ministry of Home Affairs led Homeland Security Dialogue inaugurated by President Obama in 2010. DHS and MHA are conducting a range of reciprocal visits, including: air and sea port exchange visits to Washington, DC, New York City and Los Angeles; port security visits to Kandla, Mundra, Mumbai and Chennai; and law enforcement exchange visits in Washington, DC and New York City. These visits and exchanges will facilitate sharing of best practices, training, tactics, techniques and procedures to address terrorist threats.
  
• Counterterrorism: The State Department, through its Antiterrorism Assistance programs, conducted eight courses in India in 2011 and will provide 14 courses in 2012 on topics ranging from bomb blast investigation, critical incident management, and tactical commanders training to cyber investigations and forensics.
  
• Disaster Management and Preparedness: In support of disaster management, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency is sponsoring a reverse trade mission in autumn 2012 to bring officials from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, National Disaster Management Authority and leading states to meet with U.S. response and preparedness equipment, technology, and service providers. This initiative builds on an ongoing feasibility project with MHA to establish an integrated emergency communications system and supporting infrastructure in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, funded by USTDA and cost-shared by a U.S. firm; this project is helping to define standards for national implementation of emergency communications used by first responders.
  
• Cyber Security: India and the U.S. recently held another successful round of cyber security consultations chaired by their national security councils. The delegations agreed to form a working group chaired by the State Department and the Ministry of External Affairs to further discuss international norms in cyberspace and internet governance. The group will also work to coordinate national positions in advance of important international cyber events. Robust operational cooperation continues between the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (U.S.-CERT) and India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN).