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Indo-US Naval Cooperation: Geo-Strategic Ramifications for the Region
Abstract
Rebalancing in Asia and India's strategic location has provided it with the benefit of being key ally of the United States (US). The convergence of interests of the two states culminated into a maritime partnership providing an opportunity to Indian Navy to develop its maritime capabilities for carrying out blue water missions. Such naval build up and alliance formation in the Indo-Pacific Region (IPR) will be counterproductive, creating security dilemma for the regional states by threatening their national and strategic interests. Contrary to the assumption that such a development will create balance of power in the region, there are threats that these developments may cause conflicts, confrontation, and maritime cold war in the region. The study seeks to explore such dangers. It stresses that sustaining peace at sea hinges upon discouraging an arms race in maritime domain and promoting engagement and collaboration.
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Footnotes
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Carter was the strongest proponent of bolstering Indo-US defense ties during his tenure. For instance, he established India Rapid Reaction Cell in Pentagon to boost Indo US defense trade under DTTI45; even DTTI was led by him as Deputy Secretary Defense in 2012.
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For instance, there are concerns over the recent rift between the two countries on the issue of trade tariffs, which is the result of Trump's trade policy across the world.
Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, “Deepening US-India Maritime Ties in Focus with Navy Chief Visit.”
“44 Indian Security Personnel Killed in Held Kashmir Attack,” Dawn, February 15, 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1463946. On February 14, 2019, Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed as a jeep with 350kg of explosives rammed a bus in a large security convoy at Pulwama, in the Indian-Held Kashmir. India claimed that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group had accepted the responsibility of the attack and tried to link the incident with Pakistan, which was vigorously denied by Pakistan.
Helen Regan, Nikhil Kumar, Adeel Raja and Swati Gupta, “Pakistan Says It Shot Down Two Indian Jets as Kashmir Border Crisis Deepens,” CNN, February 28, 2019, https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/27/india/india-pakistan-strikes-escalation-intl/index.html; and “No Pakistani Citizen Killed in Balakot Strike, Admits Indian Minister,” Samaa TV, April 18, 2019, https://www.samaa.tv/news/2019/04/no-pakistani-citizen-killed-in-balakot-strike-admits-indian-minister/. After the Pulwama attack, India carried out an airstrike and violated Pakistan's airspace on February 26, 2019 over the disputed border region of Kashmir. In response Pakistan downed two Indian planes in Kashmir the next day and also took an Indian Air Force Pilot Abhinandan into custody, who was later released by Pakistan, as a gesture of peace.
“Pakistan Navy Says It Stopped Indian Sub from Entering its Waters,” Japan Times, March 6, 2019, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/06/asia-pacific/pakistan-navy-says-stopped-indian-sub-entering-waters/.