The US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said in New Delhi, neither India nor the US need to choose between their own relationship and closer ties with “fellow trustee” China.
Mr Hagel said in a speech to the Observer Research Foundation in the Indian capital that the US has a "unique relationship" with India, and that both countries must seize opportunities to work together on defence issues, including jointly developing and producing arms.
“Just as America need not choose between its Asian alliances and a constructive relationship with China, India need not choose between closer partnership with America and improved ties with China. In our relations with Beijing, both Delhi and Washington seek to manage competition, but avoid the traps of rivalry,” the secretary said.
“We will continue to seek a stable and peaceful order in which China is a fellow trustee, working cooperatively with both our nations.”
Mr Hagel said that the US “strongly supports” India’s growing global influence and military capabilities and the two countries have “shared interests in maritime security across the region, including at the global crossroads of the South China Sea.”
See key extracts from the speech made on Saturday below. Read full speech here.
"The fundamentals of the U.S.-India partnership are strong. The question -- and what I focused on yesterday in my talks with Indian leaders -- is whether India and the United States can achieve the enormous potential for this partnership...whether we can transform our potential into results. Following my conversations yesterday, I'm more confident than ever that we can.
"We will not agree on every issue, on every proposal. Nor do the closest of friends. Each of our nations will move forward on our own terms, at our own pace. But today, as India "looks east" and the United States "rebalances," our interests across the full span of the Indo-Pacific region are aligning more closely than ever.
"To pursue prosperity at home, both our nations must uphold a just, inclusive, and secure order. This requires continued cooperation that guards against regional instability. It requires countering terrorism and violent extremism. We also have a shared stake in the security of global energy and natural resource supplies, and the free flow of commerce.
"We seek to protect freedom of navigation in the air and sea, and ensure the peaceful resolution of disputes. We have a shared interest in maritime security across the region, including at the global crossroads of the South China Sea. For all these reasons, India continues to "look east," and the United States is pursuing its strategic rebalance. These complementary efforts headline our nations' converging interests.
"The United States strongly supports India's growing global influence and military capabilities, including its potential as a security provider from the Indian Ocean to the greater Pacific.
"Helping fulfill that potential is a deepening U.S.-India defense partnership, a partnership that must be cooperative, cutting-edge, consequential, and based on common interests...strengthening our military-to-military relations, re-energizing our defense industrial cooperation, and expanding our regional cooperation.
"Regular and frequent engagement between our militaries helps forge a common and cooperative strategic culture. It helps instill trust and resilience in our broader partnership. And it ensures our forces are operationally prepared to deter conflict.
"We are also pursuing other, innovative avenues of military-to-military cooperation. Our navies could pioneer new cooperation in the area of operational energy, finding ways to increase the efficiency, and thereby the capability and safety, of maritime operations. This collaboration would have financial and technological benefits, and it could be expanded across all our military services.
"Together, we can also learn from India's leadership in international peacekeeping, particularly in Africa. There is room to grow the partnership between our peacekeeping centers of excellence.
"Since 2008, over $9 billion in defense contracts have been signed between the United States and India, compared with less than $500 million for all the years prior.
"But we can do more to forge a defense industrial partnership -- one that would transform our nations' defense cooperation from simply buying and selling to co-production, co-development, and freer exchange of technology. And we have no better opportunity than the U.S.-India Defense Trade and Technology Initiative, or DTTI.
"Announced by Secretary Panetta here in Delhi two years ago, and shepherded by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, DTTI was based on a simple premise: The top leadership here in India and in the United States decided to raise our strategic partnership to a new level, and we needed a new way of doing business. We agreed that, to help ensure that India's military becomes as capable as it could be, we needed deeper and broader defense trade and technology cooperation.
"DTTI is about much more than defense deals. It is designed to support the development of a strong and self-sufficient Indian defense industrial base -- one that develops mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships with top American defense companies, and helps create jobs in both our nations. The United States has made no similar effort with any other nation; it is unique to our relationship with India.
"This initiative was not designed to replace either of our nations' basic procedures for buying, selling, developing, or producing defense systems. Nor was it designed to change the basic principles that govern our two nations' complex defense industrial ecosystems. Instead, it was crafted to ensure that our defense development and production activities reflect our shared strategic imperative: the imperative of closer partnership.
"Just as America need not choose between its Asian alliances and a constructive relationship with China, India need not choose between closer partnership with America and improved ties with China. In our relations with Beijing, both Delhi and Washington seek to manage competition, but avoid the traps of rivalry. We will continue to seek a stable and peaceful order in which China is a fellow trustee, working cooperatively with both our nations.
"A strong strategic partnership between the United States and India is a responsibility, not a slogan. It is a responsibility that our governments owe not only to our own citizens, but to all nations and all peoples who seek a more peaceful and prosperous future.
"Our values are shared. Our interests are aligned. Our focus and energy are surging.
"I leave India today confident that, together, our two nations will achieve the historic potential of this special partnership."