The United States is preparing to provide a military aid package of $500 million to India with an aim to reduce its dependency on Russian military equipment and to deepen the security ties between New Delhi and Washington, Bloomberg reported.
The package would include as much as $500 million, making India third largest recipient of such aid after Israel and Egypt. The deal has not yet been announced and it's unclear for the time being, what weapons would be included in the deal, the report added.
The Bloomberg report quoted a senior US official as saying that the aid is a part of an initiative by President Joe Biden’s administration to field India as a long term security partner, despite the fact that India abstained from voting against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. He also added that in order to become a reliable partner to India, the US is also working with other countries like France to fulfill India’s military equipment needs.
However, India is already diversifying its military platforms other than Russia and Washington is helping New Delhi to diversify faster.
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The official further added that the US is exploring how to provide India with major platforms like fighter jets, naval ships and battle tanks and added that the Biden administration is looking for a breakthrough in these areas.
Though the US and its allies were earlier unhappy with India’s stand at UN to abstain against Russia, now they have decided to emerge as key security partners for India, including against China in the Indo-Pacific region.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, at a news conference in April with secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Minister of India Rajnath Singh and Foreign Minister S. Jaishakar said, "We're doing all this because the United States supports India as a defense industry leader in the Indo-Pacific and a net provider of security in the region," Austin said. "And we all understand the challenges that we face there. The People's Republic of China is seeking to refashion the region and the international system more broadly in ways that serve its interests."
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join a Summit with US President Joe Biden next week in South Korea. It will attended by other Quad leades as well. PM Modi has also received an invitation to attend the G-7 summit in Germany next month.
