Need to maintain rules-based Indo Pacific; India-US defence ties come to the fore at Defense News Conclave in Chennai

Former chairman of DRDO emphasizes the need for people-to-people connect between India and the US to strengthen strategic relationships and defense cooperation.

Former chairman of the Defence Research and Space Organisation (DRDO) S. Christopher on Tuesday, February 5, 2024, emphasised the need for people to connect between India and the United States, to strengthen strategic relationships between the two countries.

The need to maintain a rules-based order in the Indo Pacific and the emphasis on India-U.S. defence cooperation came to the fore during a Defense News Conclave organised by the U.S. Consulate General Kolkata, the U.S. Department of State and CUTS International, in Chennai.

Delivering his keynote address, Mr. Christopher said peace could not be assumed but had to be assured. “It has to be assured by not only power but also partnership,” he said and added that there needed to be collaborations at the people-level rather than only at a military- or other levels.

United States Consul General in Chennai Christopher W. Hodges said we all lived in an interconnected world now, and so, what happened in the Indo Pacific mattered for the rest of the globe and vice versa. He underlined the significance of maintaining a rules-based order, which supported international law and respected human rights and of maintaining a “secure and open” Indo Pacific.

“These things all matter. They affect everybody in the world and India and the United States have a chance to drive them in our bilateral relationship as well as through mechanisms like the Quad,” Mr. Hodges emphasised and said the components in the Quad saw the common interest in maintaining a secure and open Indo Pacific.

As for defence cooperation between the India and the U.S., Mr. Hodges said the amount of defence cooperation and spending had been essentially nothing in 2008, but went up to 25 billion USD in 2023 and further said that the “trajectory for that is very, very positive to continue”. It was an “amazing opportunity”, as both the countries had a “convergence of common interest and common values”.

Pradeep S. Mehta, secretary general, Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) said that the defence cooperation between India and the U.S. has become an integral and central aspect of the national security policies of both the countries and has grown significantly in the recent past.