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What’s on the platter for the upcoming visit of EAM S Jaishankar to USA & UN

India-USA-Relations

The Ministry of External affairs announced on Friday that next week, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will travel to the United States to discuss bilateral issues and “Covid-related cooperation.” In a visit scheduled from May 24-28, that is expected to boost the Indo-US relations, Mr. Jaishankar will travel to New York and Washington, and will meet with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The visit will have many issues to be covered and discussed between India, on one hand and US and UN on other hand.

In addition to his official meetings, EAM is also expected to meet with American vaccine manufacturers. Discussions between EAM and the vaccine manufacturers are expected to focus on commercial procurement of vaccine doses from both the industry including Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, as well as gifts of extra doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine that the U.S. government plans to share with other countries.

Also Read: US will work with COVAX to share vaccines; it intends to add to its vaccine manufacturing capacities

As a part of vaccine diplomacy, India had supplied around 60 million doses of vaccines to around 70 countries, before the Second Wave of the Covid19 hit the nation, which is now reeling under vaccine deficiency with a medical infrastructure in shambles.

In his upcoming US visit, EAM Jaishankar would also meet with the business representatives of U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC).

In a statement, the MEA said, “The External Affairs Minister will have two interactions with business forums on economic and COVID-related cooperation between India and the U.S.”

Also Read: Indo-US relations-Part-III-the Quadrilateral security dialogue

In recent weeks, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both of the groups, USISPF & USIBC, have formed a “Global Task Force on Pandemic Response” to work on several aspects of pandemic relief. The work of the task force includes provision of 1,000 ventilators required by hospitals in India, 25,000 oxygen concentrators and coordination of human resources executives in India and the U.S. for the effort.

A round table meeting is expected to be organized between S Jaishankar and the CEOs of the vaccine manufacturing companies and other American pharmaceutical firms.

Apart from discussion on Covid19, EAM Jaishankar is expected to communicate that India still wants the U.S. to reconsider its export ban under the Defence Production Act (DPA) for vaccine ingredients (APIs), which Indian manufacturers need to ramp up production in the next few months.

This would be the first visit of S Jaishankar after Joe Biden took office as the President of the US. Earlier this month, EAM Jaishankar had met Antony Blinken in the G-7 ministerial meeting held at London.

EAM S Jaishankar would also meet the UN officials including Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in his first visit since India assumed its two-year term at the Security Council this January. As the Chair of Taliban Sanctions Committee at the UNSC, India is expected to hold talks with UN on the Afghanistan peace process, and other issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict, UN reforms, vaccine distribution and others.

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Shadow of Sanctions over allies- The issue of purchase of Russian-S-400 between QUAD partners India & US

Indo-US S-400

On the latest visit by the US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin to India, there were aspersions of sanctions with regards to the purchase of S-400 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia. Lloyd Austin stated that since India has not yet acquired the S-400 system, the matter related to sanctions has not been discussed in the Indo-American meeting. Nevertheless, the matter of India planning to acquire the Russian S-400 system has kept the US administration piqued.

Clarifying the stance of US on the issue of countries acquiring Russian systems, Lloyd Austin in a statement said, “We have countries that we have worked from time to time that have required Russian equipment over the years. We certainly urge all our allies and partners to move away from Russian equipment, and really avoid any kind of acquisition that would trigger sanctions on our behalf. There has been no delivery of an S-400 system to India, so the issue of sanctions has not been discussed, but we did address with the Minister of Defence the issue of S-400.” It is worthwhile to note that US had placed sanctions on NATO-member-Turkey for acquiring the S-400 system. In July 2019, Turkey was also removed from the F-35 joint strike fighter programme, as US considered Turkey’s participation untenable due to acquiring S-400. In October 2018, India has signed a deal of $5 billion to purchase five units of S-400 system, which is based on Triumf interceptor-based missile. In a response to that deal, the then US-administration led by Trump had warned that it might attract sanctions under the CAATSA, or the Sanctions Act. This US Act places sanctions on countries that have significant transactions with North Korea, Iran and Russia. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was designed as a response to the Crimean Annexation by Russia in 2014 and the involvement of Russia in the 2016 US Presidential election.

Also Read: Indo-US relations-Part-III-the Quadrilateral security dialogue

Secretary of state Lloyd Austin had reiterated that US allies should steer clear of purchasing Russian systems like S-400 to avoid the US sanctions. Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Bob Menendez, prior to the visit of Lloyd Austin, had asked him to raise issues related to democracy and human rights in his talks with Indian government apart from discussing the opposition of US to Indian purchase of S-400 system & forging an alliance to push against the Chinese assertion in the region.

The concerns & possibility of US invoking sanctions was also raised by returning US ambassador to New Delhi, Kenneth Juster, in his farewell speech. In confounding didactic parables he stated that India should make certain choices on its overall approach on acquiring military hardware. He added a cryptic note that CAATSA sanctions were not designed to harm the US-allies, alluding to India. He also added, “As systems get more technologically advanced, country A (Russia) that does not get along with country B (the US) will be less willing to sell technology that could potentially be compromising to country B.”

The address speech of Juster throws light on the hesitancy of US to directly place India under sanctions, which can be triggered by formal acquisition of S-400 system by India, given the strong and strategic nature of the Indo-American ties in various domains like  defence, Science and Technology, Information technology, manufacturing, nuclear sector inter alia.

S-400- a step-up from earlier air defence systems

From the point of view of Indian defence, purchase of S-400 was intended as a step-up from the Aakash missile defennce system and the Israeli SYPDER air defence system in view of the challenges and threats posed from China & Pakistan. The Aakash missile system is a mid-range surface-to-air missile system built by DRDO & supported by Rajendra Radar system. It can target aircrafts up to a distance of 30 km away and upto a height of 18 Km.

Akash missile system (AAD) providing endo-atmosphere interception in a range of 15-30 Km,  alongwith Prithvi air defence system (PAD) which provides exo-atmospheric interception at altitude-range of 80-120 Km forms the Ballistic Missile defence system for India. In February-March 2017, India had weaved together a network of the Israeli SPYDER air defence system. The SPYDER system is formed of Surface-to-air Python (SAM) missile and Derby missile, which makes the system a low-level quick reaction missile system intended to neutralize threats up to 15 Km away and upto a height of 20-9000 metres. In Israeli armaments, Python-5 is the most capable missile of Air-to air format, which has been modified in SPYDER as a SAM missile. It is a Beyond-visual-range (BVR) missile with lock-on-after launch capability with active seeking features including a electro-optical & infra-red homing seekers. The Israeli Derby is a BVR air-to-air missile of medium range (around 50 km), with fire and forget feature.

In the collection of missile defence systems of Indian armed forces, there is another Indo-Israeli joint project of Barak-8 which has a long-range of atleast 70 Km making it a LR/MR-SAM. It can tackle anti-ship missiles, aircrafts, choppers, UAVs, cruise missiles, combat jets & ballistic missiles. This missile exists in both land-based and maritime variants.

The S-400 systems belong to the Triumf family of air defence missile system. Its added advantage is that it can track, simultaneously 100 flying objects like aircrafts, missiles and UAVs, using its long-range radar. Its Radar uses Active Electronically Scanned Array system which is a category of phased-array antenna. The system can be armed with four different types of missiles with ranges of 400 Km, 250 Km, 120 Km & 40 Km. The four types of S-400 missiles with the aforesaid respective ranges have an altitudinal reach of 30 Km, 60 Km, 30 Km, & 20 Km respectively.   It can hit targets like ballistic missiles, & aircrafts upto a range of 400 Km including those with hypersonic features & stealth technology. It has a 25 times faster firing rate than S-300, its predecessor variant. It can track flying objects as far as 600 Km away.  Hence, S-400 system provides a wider field of coverage for missile defence.  S-400 system was described as “one of the best air-defence systems currently made” by The Economist in 2017.

Point of contention with US

India and US have signed agreements of the four pillars of DTTI-Defence Trade Technology Initiative- GSOMIA, CISMOA (COMCASA), BECA and LSA (LEMOA). The Logistics services agreement (LSA) or the LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement) – the Indian version of the LSA was signed in August, 2016. The last agreement known as the BECA- Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement was signed in 2019. Under these agreements, the military hardware of US and India like aircrafts and missiles and can exchange encrypted information, satellite data, signals for coordination over navigation, joint-operations & sharing bases for drill operations.

Kenneth Juster stated that S-400 can gather electronic signatures of aircrafts of US-origin, with which Indian military coordinates and operates, like C-17, C-130J30 transport aircrafts, AH-64E Apache attack helicopters & CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopters.

Just like Turkey was removed from the F-35 JSF, India is being cautioned by US due to apprehensions of having a military intelligence collecting platform like S-400(as deemed by US) in any operations or drills between India and USA, which can provide an advantage to Russia in other theatres of troops-deployment & engagement.

This scenario places India in a position where it has to leverage between the strengths of the S-400 system and maintaining a friendly tie with US, based on common interests in the context of the Quadrilateral arrangement in Indo-Pacific between India, US, Japan, and Australia.

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The first-ever meeting of the Indo-Pacific Quad dialogue group-from vaccine diplomacy to challenges from China

Quad

On Friday, United States President Joe Biden will take part, virtually, in the first-ever meeting of leaders of the so-called “Indo-Pacific Quad” grouping, which includes the US, India, Japan and Australia. The group is often regarded as a counterweight to China’s growing assertiveness in Asia.

However, the White House has indicated that traditional security concerns might take a back seat at the meeting.

“We anticipate the meeting discussing a range of the crises we are facing as a global community from Covid, to climate, economic cooperation,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Also Read: Indo-US relations-Part-III-the Quadrilateral security dialogue

The informal partnership has long grappled with conflicting priorities, and different strategic and economic ties to China, but has been viewed by some as a bulwark against Beijing’s economic and military assertiveness in the region.

The four countries first worked collectively in 2004, in response to the devastation of an earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In 2007, the countries aligned to tout a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, but were largely inactive amid pressure from China.

In recent years, the quartet has again increased cooperation, bolstered by a support campaign from the administration of President Donald Trump, which saw the Quad, short for Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, as the regional cornerstone of its confrontational approach to Beijing.

That increased cooperation came as bilateral relations between most of the Quad countries and China have taken a “fairly tense turn”, as said by Benoit Hardy Chartrand, an East Asia analyst at Temple University in Tokyo.

Quad foreign ministers have met regularly in recent years and all four countries conducted a massive joint military drill in the Indian Ocean in November last year.

Hardy-Chartrand further added, “The fact that the quad meeting now is going to be at the leader level is certainly an illustration of the seriousness with which, and the importance that, all four partners give to this partnership.”

Sentiment among the Quad countries towards China has cooled during the last decade as Beijing has rapidly modernized its defence forces and increased its military presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

Clashes between Indian and Chinese troops along the disputed Himalayan frontier and Chinese trade sanctions against Australia have further soured ties.

China’s crackdowns on the Uighur Muslim minority in the far western province of Xinjiang and on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and China’s growing sphere of economic influence, with an increasing number of countries relying on Chinese development and technology, have further undermined Chinese relations with the Quad countries.

Also Read: Australian Strategic Policy Institute finds out about detention camps in China

While the Quad countries have stressed that China is not their main motivator, “there has definitely been a greater willingness to cooperate on all parts, driven, in large part, by their problems with their relationship with China,” Hardy-Chartrand said.

The initiative will mean that vaccines developed in the United States will be manufactured in India and it will be financed by Japan and US. It will be supported by Australia. The vaccine initiative will allow new manufacturing capacity to be added in India for exports to the Indo-Pacific region. It is aimed at countering China in the region. This will not impinge on India’s existing manufacturing capacities.

This pooling of individual capacities and strengths by Quad countries is aimed at expediting global vaccine delivery. It will help meet the demand-supply gap, focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. It will add momentum to ongoing efforts to contain the pandemic.

The leaders in the Quad-meeting are expected to announce new financing agreements to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for vaccines in India, a senior US administration official told Reuters. The financing agreements will focus on companies and institutions in India manufacturing vaccines for American drugmakers Novavax and Johnson & Johnson. The aim would be to reduce manufacturing backlogs, speed up vaccinations and defeat the coronavirus mutations.

 (With inputs from Reuters, Al-Jazeera & BBC)

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Indo-US relations-Part-III-the Quadrilateral security dialogue

Vying for control over the mineral-rich and strategically important Afghanistan in between the British empire and the Russians had been the normal of the nineteenth-century Asian geopolitics. This normal was known as the Great Game. In the post-cold war times, the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean have to a large extent taken the place of the nineteenth century Afghanistan. The new Great Game is centered around these two oceans and is manifested in the form of an arrangement known as the Quadrilateral initiative in between the USA, India, Japan, and Australia. In June 2007 on the sidelines of the meeting of the ARF-ASEAN Regional Forum organized in Manila, the foundation of the idea of the Quadrilateral initiative was laid out. Since this meeting was largely left unpublicized, very few in the world came to know about the genesis of the Quad initiative. 

This initiative was brought about to address the new power balance in Asia which was discernible in many ways. The balance was about the emergence of China. Many analysts compare the rise of China in the late 20th century to the Meiji restoration in Japan which ended the Edo period. This China factor was unique in the sense that it did not pose any direct military threat to the overall peace in Asia, but there was a concern in the world about the sharp Chinese economic rise. There is also a small fear of possible military confrontation in the ocean frontiers of East Asia. The quadrilateral initiative had been formed to address these fears and concerns as well as balance out the Chinese influence in the Asia-pacific and Oceania region.

Asia is becoming more fractured in terms of different strategic cultures. Large arrangements of 16 nations like East Asia summit, 21 nations like Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, 27 nations like ASEAN Regional Forum are problematic in terms of getting results in relations between the countries. Hence, to get concrete outcomes in such regions, smaller groups like Quadrilateral arrangement would be suitable. After the Chinese criticism of a joint military exercise between Singapore and the participants of the Quad, Australia withdrew from the group in 2008. In the 2017 ASEAN summit, Australia rejoined the Quadrilateral security dialogue.

This four-sided arrangement can take the relations between the four countries in the economic realm with a special drive from India and the USA. There have been suggestions that India should develop a Quad FTA which would add another dimension to the Quad structure. India already has done nuclear deals with all the other three members. This should be a good enough reason to chalk out a Quad FTA. This Quad has given confidence to the observers that it can create a free and open Pacific. Some experts state that India somehow remains the weak link in the Quad as it cannot confidently place the ‘counter China’ notion in its diplomacy. The large amounts of loans taken by India and organizations based in India from Asian Infrastructure Investment bank which is controlled by China also play a role in this. In 2018, India deliberately kept itself aloof from the Quad arrangement after the Wuhan summit between India and China. This cold-feet posture by India worried the other members of the Quad setup. This even lowered the confidence of the USA which wants the economic balance of power to shift towards India.

Quad is such an opportunity for India where it can leverage its relationship with the USA to gain prominence in Asia and can pose as a competitor to China. It also opens the possibility of setting up a parallel of Five eyes or Echelon in Asia whereby intelligence gathering can be strengthened in the Asia-pacific and Oceania region. Quad has the potential to pose as a strategic barrier to expansionist China with regards to the South China sea. For the success of Quad, the strong strategic, military, and economic coordination between the USA and India is a prerequisite. The four-sided arrangement can in turn improve the economic stronghold and security coordination of the nations over the Pacific region. Quad can help India develop a counterpart of belt and road initiative which can be a stepping stone towards India becoming a stronger Asian power with the help of the USA.

To be a more active participant in this four-sided setup, India needs to embrace that it is a rimland power and that the 21st century is the Ocean’s century with Aircraft carriers serving as the extended frontiers of nations. This has been learned and implemented by the USA and it is being executed by China. USA wants India to embrace the rimland advantage given the fact that it has already signed three agreements with India-GSMOMIA, COMCASA, LEMOA which are part of the New Indo-US Defense framework agreement. India should take a bold step in this direction by integrating more with the Quad. If a country hesitates to benefit from such an agreement because of its hostile and opportunistic neighbors, that would be more harmful on a long term basis.

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Indo- US Relations -Part- II-Defense and associated technological relations

The foundation of the Indo-US defense relations with a focus on information sharing and trade in technologies was laid in January 1995, when the Agreed minutes on defense relations was signed. It was formally known as the Defense technology and trade initiative. An apex institutional body was setup as a dialogue mechanism in the area of defense cooperation. It was known as the Defense policy group. Under the NSSP- Next step in Strategic Partnerships which was signed between India and the USA in 2004, a blueprint was prepared for the upgradation for the defense relations and associated trade agreements. After 10 years, in 2005, this agreement was renewed as ‘New Defense framework Agreement’. It was agreed that the NDFA would cover areas like defense trade, exchange of personnel, collaboration and cooperation in marine operations, joint exercises, counter piracy operations among others. The DFA (Defense framework Agreement) was further renewed in 2015 for another 10 years. A very integral part of this renewed framework agreement was the DTTI- defense trade and technology initiative, which is also known as Carter initiative, named after the American Public policy expert-Ashton Carter.

The USA has such agreements on the model of DTTI with numerous countries to maintain its strategic reach across the world. The DTTI discussed here is specifically modelled for India. The defense technology and trade initiative with India has four key pathfinder agreements which are worked out as joint development between the two participating countries. One needs to remember that the DTTI is not an international law or treaty as such, but a partnership based relationship. DTTI would cover aspects like intelligence gathering, reconnaissance modules for large transport aircrafts (C130J Super Hercules), availability of mobile electric hybrid power sources and provision of protection gear for chemical and biological warfare for soldiers. This initiative has four pillars-GSOMIA, CISMOA (COMCASA), BECA and LSA(LEMOA).

GSOMIA which stands for General security of military information agreement was signed between India and the USA in 2002. It allows Indian government access to sensitive information from USA government and the MNCs and corporations based in USA. It signifies that it allows India to access data from firms like google and other technology companies which can be used for actions with purpose of national security.

Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) is an agreement which USA setups with partnering countries. The Indian version of this is known as COMCASA-Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement. It was signed in September 2018 on the sidelines of a 2+2 dialogue between India and USA. This agreement allows India access to encrypted and proprietary communications devices and setup on the military aircrafts and other vehicles and infrastructure. Before signing of this agreement, India and USA military commands were using a limited version of US Centrix (Combined Enterprise Regional information exchange). Now, India has access to complete Centrix system in terms of communications during joint military exercises.

In August,2016, India and USA signed the LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement)- the Indian version of the Logistics services agreement (LSA). It allows both the countries to use logistics of each other for military purposes. There would be pre-designated sites on both sides where the usage by the military assets of the partner country would be allowed. There would be a mechanism for book-keeping, payments for usage, in such kind of cooperative usage of bases of each other. LEMOA would cover training exercises, port calls, joint exercises, disaster relief and other relevant operations. This agreement does not mandate the setting up of bases in each other’s territories.

In August 2019, in the bilateral meeting of the defense planning group, discussions were carried out so that the last agreement known as the BECA- Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement can be signed. This would allow India to have geospatial intelligence sharing from the USA. That would help India to share and have access to sensitive data to aid and coordinate in targeting and navigation with USA and it’s allies. This would help India to enhance the military accuracy for its automated defense hardware systems for examples, drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. BECA would provide India and USA to share advanced topographical and satellite data which would be helpful in long range navigation and targeting for different missiles in the arsenals of both the countries. It would provide India access to missile systems and different aircraft survivability hardware. From Indian perspective, BECA would help India get strengthened against the China-Pakistan axis, and from the American point of view, it would help balance the power in Asia against the Russia China Pakistan alliance.

Industrial Security Annex was recently signed between India and the USA as a part of the GSOMIA- General security of military information agreement. It would be necessary as a set of guidelines between the corporations of the USA and India co-develop and co-produce various technologies, materials and weapons. This would cover deals like that of the 110 fighter jets deal and the 111 naval utility helicopters which are under consideration and processing in the Strategic Partnership model. It is like a middle ground between protectionism and co-production of defense products.

For coordination in the domain of defense production, the DTTI arrangement (only a mechanism, it is not a treaty), had formed a Security cooperation group. This SCG was upgraded to Defense Procurement and Production Group whose function is to monitor defense trade, look out for possibility of co-production of defense materials and technology collaboration (for example TOT agreements). This DPPG is one of the many subgroups under Defense policy group with a purpose to guide the military industrial relations under the Industrial Security Annex signed between India and USA.

India historically shared a cold relation with USA in the post-World War II world which saw milestone changes after the fall of the USSR and the Indo-US Nuclear deal. Signing of the BECA would complete the efforts put in by the successive governments in building defense relations with the USA which was formally set up in 1995. But care must be taken to see that neither the cooperation under DTTI pave the way for unnecessary intervention in the relations of India with its immediate neighbors nor any leeway is provided in the decision-making structure of India’s national security.

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Indo-US relations-Part-I Trade and economics

The United States of America has recently become the largest trading partner of India. As per data of ministry of commerce, in the FY 2018-19, the value of bilateral trade between India and the USA was US$ 8.95 billion whereas the corresponding value between India and China was at US$ 87.07 billion. With more strengthened economic ties between Washington and New Delhi, the trade volume and value have been predicted to go upwards. As per data available on the USA government website on foreign trade, in the year 2019, the total exports from the USA to India stood at around 34288 million US $, and the total imports from India to the USA stood at around 57694 million US $. Hence from the Indian perspective, the trade with the USA had a surplus value for India in the year 2019. In the year 2020, until May the export from the USA to India stands at around 1127 million US$ and the imports from India to the USA sums up to around 19408 million US$. This shows that the confidence of the various officials, observers, and analysts in the bright future of India-USA economic relations is not misplaced.

The deepened and strengthened ties between USA and India gains more relevance in the pandemic scenario when the whole world is flustered and upset with China over the way Covid19(origin country: China) has grappled the entire globe. Some observers draw out the idea of a world where China has been replaced by India in terms of being the next manufacturing hub for the world. This may be a more than a farfetched idea. Phrases like ‘India set to replace China’ has been part of self-satisfying AC-room presentations of various research groups (whose only realized purpose is making such presentations) working in New Delhi for the past 10 years. People who are harping on this ‘India replacing China’ would be flummoxed if they find out the actual advantageous price differential offered by China in the world market.

For example, one kilogram of BR category steel would cost around 52-55 rupees from SAIL. It would cost around 50 rupees plus Rs 2 for shipping purposes from any standard Russian steel manufacturer, whereas the same quality of steel can be obtained from China at around 17 Rs per Kg. Industry players in China are being helped by their government to set up an efficient supply chain to acquire raw materials in a hub and spoke model. It allows their firms and factories to get their raw materials sourced from as near as 500 m to 1.5 km. This distance advantage, cheap labor, and government subsidies get reflected in the competitive price which they offer in the world. So, ‘India replacing China’ is a notion that is out of sight at least as of now. But it is not an impossible idea.

India and the USA can come together to join their expertise and a vast amount of resources to build competitive advantages in many industries. That can be done successfully if and only if the unnecessary bureaucratic maze is removed from the business environment within India. this maze can be realized if one tries to set up a factory in India as simple as the one manufacturing nails. In the year, 2005, the India-US trade policy forum was established to take ahead talks in economic cooperation into the realm of concrete action. Some of the primary areas of economic cooperation-based relations between Indian and the USA have been agriculture, pharmaceuticals, textiles, telecommunication, IT, and energy. Textile products (nonknitted), used textile materials, pharmaceutical products, precious stones are some of the most prominent items in the Indian export basket for the USA. Export from the USA to India comprise mainly of fuels and aircraft. The year 2009 was a milestone as in that year a Strategic dialogue was established during the visit of Hillary Clinton, the then US Secretary of State to India. In those years of the global economic turmoil which came as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, the US had shown confidence in the Indian economy by establishing the India-US CEO forum. The same forum established under the efforts of Dr. Man Mohan Singh recently saw the proposition of establishing an Indo USA FTA- free trade agreement. In 2018, India was granted the Strategic trade authorization-1 status by the USA, making it the third Asian country to achieve the status. This allows exports from the USA of products of high technology nature in civil space as well as defense domain to India.

The economic relations between India has not evolved without its share of setbacks. In November 2019, India lost a case involving the USA in the WTO whereby it was ruled that the export subsidies provided by the Indian government to its business houses are in violations of the norms of the trade body. India presented the case stating that the subsidies can be exempted under the special and differential treatment, which was rejected by the deciding panel of the trade body. For India, it was about protecting its native industries competing with the USA, and for America, it was the case of trade liberalization for which protectionism must be shunned. The USA has a system known as the Generalised system of preferences, established by the Trade Act of 1974, which gives chances to the developing countries to use trade to boost their economy. In June 2019, the GSP designation was removed for India by the USA. It was stated that India does not provide enough access to its domestic market to foreign players.

Both the countries are planning to bring out an FTA. It can give India access to the USA for many products, duty-free. Various reports point out that under the new trade deal (India USA FTA), India is planning to give access to the USA for its dairy market and on the other hand, the USA would provide concessions to generic drug exports from India. The new deal would benefit the sectors like automobiles, steel industries, textiles, and aluminum-based industries.

The economic equation between India and the USA has seen many ups and downs. This Covid19 pandemic has given both countries a unique opportunity to use one another in improving the economic dimension of Indo-US relations. The lowered confidence of the world towards China provides the right window in which the new trade deal can be laid out. It will benefit both the countries in the long run not only in the economic segment but also in other areas like defense cooperation, scientific collaboration, social ties among others.