Defense cooperation is central to the India-U.S. partnership, and it has served as a key enabler for stronger collaboration at the multilateral level. While defense ties between the two countries have gone from strength to strength over the last two decades, defense-industrial cooperation has notably failed to take off thus far. However, of late, the two countries have made a renewed push toward furthering defense-industrial cooperation. They released a roadmap in June 2023, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent state visit to the United States has given the process further impetus.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Sameer Lalwani joins Rahul Bhatia to discuss these points and more.

Episode Contributors

Sameer Lalwani is a senior expert on South Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He is also a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. His research interests include nuclear deterrence, interstate rivalry, alliances, crisis behavior, counterinsurgency, and Indo-Pacific security. Sameer has been widely published in academic journals and print media alike. He was the co-editor of the book Investigating Crises: South Asia’s Lessons, Evolving Dynamics, and Trajectories, which was published by the Stimson Center in 2018.

Rahul Bhatia is a research analyst with the security studies program at Carnegie India. His research focuses on India’s borders and India’s foreign and defense policies. He is currently working on a project that looks at India’s military modernization with a focus on indigenization. He also has a keen interest in the changing geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific.

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Additional Readings

Modi’s Trip to Washington Marks New Heights in U.S.-India Ties by Sameer P. Lalwani, Daniel Markey, Tamanna Salikuddin, and Vikram J. Singh

A Big Step Forward in U.S.-India Defense Ties by Sameer P. Lalwani and Vikram J. Singh

What the GE Engine Deal Means for India’s Military Diversification by Rahul Bhatia

Can a Defense Innovation Bridge Elevate India-U.S. Defense Cooperation? by Rahul Bhatia and Konark Bhandari

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Key Moments:

(0:00); Intro

(2:10); Chapter 1: The Role of Defense-Industrial Cooperation

(4:11); Chapter 2: The Roadmap for Defense-Industrial Partnership

(7:07); Chapter 3: Why the DTTI Failed

(12:41); Chapter 4: Bureaucratic Differences in the DTTI

(16:48); Chapter 5: India’s History of Technology Sharing and Indigenization

(24:36); Chapter 7: The Significance of the GE Deal

(27:21); Chapter 8: The Role of the Indian Startup Ecosystem

(29:03); Chapter 9: India-U.S. Cooperation on Undersea Domain Awareness

(31:53); Chapter 10: The Significance of INDUS-X

(36:48); Chapter 11: Challenges in India-U.S. Joint Defense Innovation

(40:23); Outro

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