India’s message to US offers cues

India raising its Pakistan concerns with the US may appear routine, but the timing is significant for multiple reasons

On the sidelines of the ASEAN defence ministers’ meet in Cebu, Philippines, Rajnath Singh used his bilateral meeting with US counterpart Pete Hegseth to raise India’s concerns over continued American support for Pakistan’s military. Though such an exchange may look routine, its timing is significant for two reasons.

Washington cannot expect deeper cooperation from India while upgrading the military India may be most likely to face. (@SecRubio X/PTI)

First, the Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership, a 10-year policy road map signed by Singh and Hegseth, has completed one year, and the two countries have recently concluded the joint exercise Yudh Abhyas to enhance interoperability and tactical exchanges. Since India’s security challenges come from its neighbourhood, its concern is reasonable: A defence partner should not technologically strengthen an adversary’s forces. Washington cannot expect deeper cooperation from India while upgrading the military India may be most likely to face. Within the India-US reset, this is straight talk meant to smoothen fissures before they widen.

The second reason lies beyond India-US ties. In recent months, India-Pakistan engagement has increased. At the UN, exchanges have been sharp: India attacked Pakistan over minority rights violations and military control of various territories, while Islamabad wrote to the Security Council about the arbitration panel’s Indus Waters Treaty ruling. Yet, there are also hints of a thaw in some long-suspended engagements: SCO coordinator Alok Dimri visited Islamabad for an SCO meeting ahead of Pakistan’s presidency; and India invited Pakistan, for the first time since Operation Sindoor, to the inaugural Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi. Multilateral summits are not the place to negotiate bilateral issues, but willing delegates often use the ice-breaking opportunities they offer.

So the defence minister’s raising of the $686 million F-16 upgrade package and cross-border terrorism was an important nudge to a common partner. Washington appears positioned to steer Pakistan so that India’s security concerns, including the warrants Indian agencies hold for UN-designated terrorists Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, are no longer dismissed. It should link its military support for Pakistan to authentic and verifiable action against terrorism. Whether India-Pakistan relations can gradually improve depends on several factors. These signals deserve close watching.