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US keen to boost defence ties with India, Quad cooperation: Top Trump official
Assistant Secretary Paul Kapur spoke about the importance of cooperation in defence, technology, and energy sectors despite trade tensions.
Washington remains keen to cooperate with India through the Quad and to bolster defence ties, Paul Kapur, the Trump administration’s top diplomat for South Asia, indicated in a briefing before a subcommittee in the US House of Representatives.
Kapur, the Assistant Secretary of State handling US ties with South and Central Asia, added that the US is planning fresh arms sales to India. He pointed to the resilience of the US-India relationship despite recent trade tensions and welcomed the framework agreement announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
“India, with its size, location, and commitment to a free and open region, anchors South Asia and more broadly, the western half of the Indo-Pacific...the United States and India maintain high-level diplomatic touchpoints such as the 2+2 ministerial and cooperate closely in the defence, technology, and energy sectors bilaterally and also through the Quad. Cooperation in these areas has remained robust even as we resolved long-standing issues in our trade relationship, as evidenced by the renewed 10 year US-India defence framework agreement, the TRUST initiative, and Indian purchases of US products ranging from drones to liquefied natural gas,” Kapur said in his opening statement to the US House of Representatives subcommittee on South and Central Asian affairs.
He added that the conclusion of the framework trade agreement between India and the US had opened up further opportunities for the relationship. Kapur pointed to potential new sales of weapons systems to India. “We also have some potential purchases of weapon systems in the pipeline that will help India to protect itself better, ensure its sovereignty...will create American jobs, and be good for both sides.”
An expert on security and defence-related issues in South Asia, Kapur was unable to provide further details on how Washington proposed to monitor New Delhi’s purchases of Russian energy after Representative Keith Self questioned him on the subject.
“I think the Quad is a very important platform. It has done well. It was defunct in 2017 when it was revived during the first Trump administration, and it’s grown in importance since then...it’s a platform that enables us to connect and cooperate in unique ways with our like-minded partners. We were talking about India earlier in the Quad...India’s been an active participant, but we can promote our humanitarian tech-related defense and econ-related and trade-related interests,” Kapur said when questioned by Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove on prospects for the four-nation partnership.
Key lawmakers expressed their disagreements with Trump’s handling of relations with India. “50% tariffs on India, one of the highest rates in the world, tore a needless rupture in bilateral ties that sacrificed decades of painstaking trust-building between our two countries. Dragging on negotiations for over a year cost us the timely convening of the annual Quad Leaders Summit and weakened our posture in the Indo-Pacific,” said Kamlager-Dove, who leads the Democratic members on the South and Central Asia subcommittee.
Kapur addressed US priorities with Pakistan, especially in light of closer ties between the Trump administration and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government. Referring to Pakistan as an “important partner”, he outlined critical minerals, trade, and counterterrorism cooperation as key US focus areas in ties with Islamabad.
“Pakistan is another important partner in the region. We’re working together with Pakistan to realise the potential of its critical mineral resources, combining US government seed financing with private sector know-how to the benefit of both of our countries. Our trade in energy and agriculture is expanding as well, and our ongoing counterterrorism cooperation helps Pakistan combat internal security threats while addressing transnational dangers that could harm the US or our partners,” Kapur said.
