US raises...

India has concerns on giving the US access to sensitive military communication if it signs the agreement.

Interestingly, the important STA Tiet 1 status for India came at a time when the country has finalized its decision to go in for a missile defence system from the US to protect parts of the capital New Delhi.

At the same forum, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier announced $113 million in new US initiatives for promoting investments in infrastructure, energy and digital economy in the Indo-pacific tracing America’s links to the region to 1794 when it set up consular presence in Calcutta, now Kolkata.

Pompeo unveiled the Trump administration’s Indo-pacific economic vision as an alternative to China’s one-belt, one-road initiative without naming the latter directly. But the pitch was clear as he emphasized US seeks “partnership, not dominance” and it believes in strategic partnership not strategic dominance”.

The new elevated This would provide India, he added, “greater supply chain efficiency, both for defense, and for other high-tech products”, the lack of which affected nearly $9.7 billion worths of goods India could have exported from the United States over the last seven years.

The secretary went on to add that the elevated status reflect India’s status as a major defense partner. It was one of the measures the two countries were discussing as a measure to advance ties after the United States declared India a “major defense partner”, a designation that America has not shared with any other country. The United States has given STA-1 to only 36 countries most of whom are NATO or NON-NATO allies.

“It’s significant,” said Benjamin Schwartz, a former defense department official who is now with the Us-india Business Council. “Looking at current exports from the US to India, 50 percent of those are eligible now under STA-1. This can free up $2.1 billion in trade, make US exporters more competitive in the global marketplace, help provide India more advanced US technology.”

Richard Rossow of the Center for Strategic International Studies said that though it will have “it underscores our deepening security relationship, and weakens India’s lingering concerns about U.S. reliability as a security partner. The timing is also significant. Our nations will have their first 2+2 in Delhi in early September. This should help thaw the environment a bit, after a string of bad news and negative allegations on the trade front”.

“This is a win-win for both countries,” said Mukesh Aghi, head of the Us-india Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). “It also helps India in upgrading its defense requirement and also helps India in building a very strong defense ecosystem.”

Speaking abut the administration’’s Indo-pacific vision, Pompeo had sought to individually draw out US ties with countries in the region going back in time. “The US commitment to a free and open Indo-pacific is deeply rooted,” he said, adding, “The State Department, which I represent, established a consular presence in Kolkata – then called Calcutta – in 1794.”

He went to speak more about US links with India. “We helped establish the first Indian Institute of Technology, along with 14 regional engineering colleges and eight agricultural universities all across India,” as he recalled these endeavors to highlight the collaborative nature of partnership US was seeking.

Pompeo set up the difference with China, the Asian behemoth that has caused worries int he region with the aggressive marketing of its OBOR initiative that has threatened the sovereignty of nations through predatory financing system.

But he emphasized that the system the Trump administration was seeking “excludes no