Why India is Important to U.S. Defense > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Story

Over the past decade, the U.S.-India defense relationship has become indispensable in promoting peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region.

In fact, America’s oldest and largest geographic combatant command changed its name last year from U.S. Pacific Command to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, specifically to highlight the importance of South Asia and the Indian Ocean region to its mission.

Indopacom’s commander, Navy Adm. Phil Davidson, is speaking this week in New Delhi at the Raisina Dialogue, a yearly forum that has emerged as India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and security. It includes global leaders in policy, business, media and civil society.

India and the U.S. have a lot of shared principals: both nations believe in sovereignty, free and fair trade, keeping to international standards and resolving disputes peacefully. In fact, India was designated a major U.S. defense partner in 2016.

So what does this major partnership look like?

Here are some of the long-term strategies that the U.S. and India are working on:

As India continues to position itself as a global power and security partner in the Indian Ocean region, defense officials said the U.S. and Indopacom will continue to make the country a priority partnership through cooperation, dialogue and trust.