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In consonance with the established partnership between India and the US, a bilateral tri-Service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise Tiger Triumph-24 was hekd on 18-31 March on the Eastern seaboard.

The 14-day exercise was aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations and refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enable rapid and smooth coordination between forces of both countries.

Indian Navy ships with integral helicopters and landing crafts embarked the Indian Navy aircraft. Indian Army personnel and vehicles and IAF aircraft and helicopters along with the Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) participated in the exercise. The US was represented by its navy ships with troops drawn from the US Marine Corps and the US Army.

The Harbour Phase was held from March 18 to 25. Personnel from both navies participated in training visits, subject matter expert exchanges, sports events and social interactions. On completion of the Harbour Phase, the ships, with the troops embarked, sailed for the Sea Phase and undertook maritime, amphibious and HADR operations following injected situations.

The closing ceremony of the exercise was held onboard USS Somerset on March 30, 2024.

Cross Deck helicopter operations involving UH3H, CH53 and  MH60R helicopters were also undertaken between ships of the Indian Navy and the US Navy off Kakinada and Visakhapatnam.

The participating units from the Indian Navy included a landing platform dock, landing ship tanks (large) including their integral landing crafts and helicopters, guided missile frigate and long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

The Indian Army was represented by one Infantry Battalion Group including mechanised forces and the Indian Air Force had deployed one medium lift aircraft, transport helicopter and the rapid action medical team (RAMT).

The US Task Force comprised of a US Navy landing platform dock including its integral landing craft air cushions and helicopters, a destroyer, maritime reconnaissance and medium lift aircraft, and also, US Marines.

Special Ops Forces from all the three Services also participated in the exercise and jointly undertook combined operations with the US counterparts at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada during the harbour and sea phase.

India’s History of HADR

In the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, when the Indian Navy provided holistic intervention in the form of rescue and relief operations, task disaggregation, reconnaissance, and rescue of survivors in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Indonesia. This humanitarian assistance initiative enabled India to project its soft power as it rejected foreign aid during the crisis to demonstrate that it had the prerequisite resources and manpower to manage the crisis. In fact, to navigate the crisis, India employed indigenous resources in the form of Indian naval ships, aircraft, and helicopters to provide relief and assistance to populations of different neighboring countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives during the disaster.

Subsequently, India provided humanitarian assistance to its South Asian neighbors during natural calamities (Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and security conflicts (Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka) over the last decade, cementing its position as a first responder in crisis.

Since 2015, under India’s flagship maritime policy of “Security and Growth for All” (SAGAR), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constituted the Annual Joint HADR Exercise (AJHE), named Operation Chakravat, to demonstrate India’s capabilities in disaster risk mitigation, and disaster risk response within the IOR. Similarly, Exercise Tiger Triumph with the United States has been instituted to foster triservices engagement between the two states while having the ability to conduct amphibious HADR operations in the advent of a natural calamity. India has also furthered HADR cooperation with the United States under the aegis of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). The Quad has deliberated on providing coordinated responses to climate disasters while expanding its capacity, capability, and interoperability within the Indo-Pacific. In fact, the Quad sherpas organized the first Quad HADR meeting to this effect in New Delhi in December 2022.

India should invest in suitable platforms to ameliorate its HADR missions through the acquisition of utility helicopters, Landing Platform Helicopters (LPHs), and Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) to ensure faster deployments. India should acquire Multi-Role Supply Ships (MRSS) with HADR contingency load-outs that include deployable shelter systems and relief supplies. Moreover, if economically feasible, India should acquire a hospital ship like China’s Peace Ark to ameliorate Indian HADR operations.

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“I think it makes eminent sense for India to produce world-class defence equipment for its own needs, and potentially as an exporter, for the world,” US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told PTI on 20 April.

The senior State Department official, however, refrained from giving details of the major defence collaboration to manufacture modern and sophisticated defence equipment in India.

“We are already major partners in the defence field. We, over the last 20 years, have had a defence trade of over USD 20 billion. And I know our private companies and our governments, our ministries of defence are talking on a regular basis about how we cooperate,” he said.

Lu pointed out that last April during the Two Plus Two Dialogue involving India’s Minister of Defence and External Affairs Minister and their American counterparts Secretary of Defence and Secretary of State, for the first time there was American support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative.

“We can see that India is shifting away from dependency on other countries and looking to produce defence supplies, and defence equipment in India itself and that’s a process we strongly support. And I hope in the coming months that you will see announcements, a major collaboration between our countries for sophisticated, modern, capable defence equipment that will be made in India,” Lu told PTI in response to a question.

This is “absolutely part” of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (ICET) Dialogue that was launched by India’s National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan, he noted.

“But it’s something we have been working on now for several years with India. I think you’ll see this year ahead will be pivotal in terms of our defence cooperation,” he said.

Lu, however, refrained from giving any other details. “I think that’s as much as I’m able to say in detail. But it will be exciting. And I hope by the end of the year that we will have a more detailed discussion about what those specific defence cooperation items are,” he said.

According to an Indian Embassy fact sheet, India-US defence cooperation is based on the “New Framework for India-US Defence Cooperation”, which was renewed for a period of ten years in 2015.

In 2016, the defence relationship was designated as a Major Defence Partnership (MDP) to build a comprehensive, enduring and mutually beneficial defence partnership.

On July 30, 2018, India was moved into the Tier-1 of the US Department of Commerce’s Strategic Trade Authorization license exception.

The Defence Policy Group (DPG) headed by the Defence Secretary and Under Secretary of Defence (Policy) provides a platform for a comprehensive review of defence dialogues/mechanisms.

In August 2022, a US Navy Ship (USNS) Charles Drew visited Chennai for repairs and allied services. This was the first-ever repair of a US Navy ship in India.

Several defence agreements have been signed, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Association (2016); the Memorandum of Intent between the US Defence Innovation Unit (DIU), and the Indian Defence Innovation Organisation – Innovation for Defence Excellence (2018); Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (2018); Industrial Security Agreement (2019); Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (2020).

Bilateral exercises include Yudh Abhyas (Army); Vajra Prahar (Special Forces), and a tri-services exercise- Tiger Triumph (inaugurated in 2019).

India joined the multilateral Combined Maritime Force (CMF) based in Bahrain, as an Associate Partner in April 2022. In November 2022, the Australian Navy joined the US-India-Japan MALABAR annual Naval Exercise. The US participated in India’s multilateral Exercise Milan 2022.

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Sources in the defence and security establishment said National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan discussed the issue in Washington earlier this month.

The two sides are in talks to develop a new version of the artillery gun called the M777 ER (Extended Range), said sources. It is learnt that the 145 howitzers currently in use by the Army could also be converted into extended range.

Sources also said that even the US military does not have the proposed version of the M777 and that its development would entail the production of a specialised kit, besides a new barrel.

There is scope for India to produce the guns indigenously, export them and become part of the global supply chain for the American artillery system manufactured by BAE Systems.

The maximum firing range of the M777 howitzer is 24.7 km with unassisted rounds and 30 km with rocket-assisted rounds. It can also fire specialised ammunition that can extend its range to about 40 km.

Sources said the idea is to extend the actual range of the gun as a standalone entity, while also developing longer-range munitions. 

The Indian side has been very clear that there is a need to convert intentions and ideas into actions and specific deliverables through focussed steps in a time-bound manner.

India had specifically gone in for procurement of the 155mm/39 calibre M777 howitzer, which is meant for use on mountainous terrain.

All M777 howitzers currently in use by the Army have been deployed along the LAC with a heavy concentration in the northeast, which is flush with mountainous terrain and multiple passes that make normal transportation of artillery systems a challenging and arduous task.

While 25 howitzers were delivered off the shelf, the rest were assembled in India by Mahindra Defence, which has a tie-up with BAE Systems.

In 2018, India purchased 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers that can carry the M777s as an underslung load. The choppers were delivered by Boeing in 2020.

What is M777 howitzer

Developed for the US Marine Corps and the US Army to replace M198 towed 155mm howitzers in 1997, the gun — unlike traditional artillery systems — is ideal for quick transport owing to its weight.

It is largely made up of titanium and titanium castings and each unit weighs less than 4,000 kg.

The M777 is capable of firing four rounds per minute of intense firing and two rounds per minute of sustained firing.

Incidentally, while the M777 has seen action in Afghanistan, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has thrown up some key issues with the artillery gun.

The US had sent over at least 142 M777s to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian troops have been using them extensively to target Russian positions.

According to one report by The New York Times, Ukrainian forces are firing 2,000 to 4,000 artillery shells a day. Over time, that pace has caused problems for Ukrainian soldiers using the M777, such as shells not travelling as far or as accurately, the report said. Some of the issues can be traced, in part, to the howitzer’s design, it added.

“Built largely with titanium, which is lighter than steel but just as strong, the weapon is easier to move on the battlefield and quicker to set up than earlier guns — a clear advantage for the United States when it began using the M777 in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s. In those wars, unlike in Ukraine, the M777 was generally used to fire small numbers of shells in support of troops,” said the report.

Moreover, the M777 howitzers have to undergo frequent repairs, and a change of barrel becomes a necessity in many cases because of their extensive firepower.

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India, desperate to modernise its largely Soviet-era fighter jet fleet to boost its air power, is concerned about Russian supply delays due to the Ukraine war and faces pressure from the West to distance itself from Moscow.

The American delegation to the week-long Aero India show in Bengaluru, which ended on 17 February, was the biggest in the 27-year history of the show and underlines the growing strategic relationship between the United States and India.

In contrast, Russia, India’s largest weapons supplier since the Soviet Union days, had a nominal presence. Its state-owned weapons exporter Rosoboronexport had a joint stall with United Aircraft and Almaz-Antey, displaying miniature models of aircraft, trucks, radars and tanks.

At previous editions of the show, Rosoboronexport had a more central position for its stall, although Russia has not brought a fighter jet to Bengaluru for a decade after India began considering more European and U.S. fighter jets.

Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets have already entered the race to supply fighter jets for the Indian Navy’s second aircraft carrier and Lockheed Martin’s F-21, an upgraded F-16 designed for India unveiled at Aero India in 2019, are also being offered to the air force.

A $20 billion air force proposal to buy 114 multi-role fighter aircraft has been pending for five years, brought into sharp focus by tensions with China and Pakistan.

The F-35 is not being considered by India “as of now”, according to an Indian Air Force (IAF) source, but the display of two F-35s at Aero India for the first time was a sign of New Delhi’s growing strategic importance to Washington.

The United States is selective about which countries it allows to buy the F-35. When asked if it would be offered to India, Rear Admiral Michael L. Baker, defence attache at the U.S. embassy in India, said New Delhi was in the “very early stages” of considering whether it wanted the plane.

The United States has approved arms sales worth more than $6 billion to India in the last six years, including transport aircraft, Apache, Chinook and MH-60 helicopters, missiles, air defence systems, naval guns and P-8I Poseidon surveillance aircraft.

India also wants to manufacture more defence equipment at home in collaboration with global giants, first to meet its own needs and eventually to export sophisticated weapons platforms.

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The agreements followed two days of high-level meetings in Washington between government officials and executives from dozens of companies, the first under a new dialogue about critical and emerging technologies that President Joe Biden and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced in Tokyo in May.

Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, told reporters Tuesday that the goal was for technological partnerships to be “the next big milestone” in the US-Indian relationship after a 2016 agreement on nuclear power cooperation. He described the effort as a “big foundational piece of an overall strategy to put the entire democratic world in the Indo-Pacific in a position of strength.”

The agreements will be a test of whether the Biden administration can realize its proposal for “friendshoring” by shifting the manufacturing of certain critical components to friendly countries. Biden officials have expressed concerns about the United States’ continued heavy reliance on China for semiconductors, telecommunications parts and other important goods. In recent months they have clamped down on the sale of advanced semiconductor technology to China, in an effort to stymie an industry that the White House says could give China a military advantage.

Many companies have found it difficult to obtain the factory space and skilled workers they would need to move their supply chains out of China. India has a highly skilled workforce and a government that wants to attract more international investment, but multinational companies seeking to operate there continue to complain of onerous regulations, inadequate infrastructure and other barriers.

Both Biden and Modi are also propelling closer US-Indian cooperation in efforts to build out the industrial and innovation bases of their countries, Sullivan said.

The partnerships announced Tuesday include an agreement between the US and Indian national science agencies to cooperate on artificial intelligence and advanced wireless technology, as well as in other areas.

The countries also pledged to speed up their efforts to jointly produce and develop certain defense technologies, including jet engines, artillery systems and armored infantry vehicles. The United States said it would look to quickly review a new proposal by General Electric to produce a jet engine with India.

Officials also said they would work together to facilitate the build-out of an advanced mobile network in India and look for new cooperation in semiconductor production, including efforts to help India bolster chip research and production that would complement major investments in the industry in the United States.

The new dialogue would include efforts to work through regulatory barriers, as well as visa restrictions that have prevented talented Indians from working in the United States, the countries said.

But experts said India would need to continue to reform its permitting and tax system to lure more foreign manufacturing companies. And the United States would need to reform restrictions on transferring defense-related technology outside the country, they said, if it hopes to work with India to produce jet engines and other advanced weapons.

Analysts also noted that many of the technology partnerships would hinge on new connections between the countries’ private sectors, meaning that the agreements could go only so far.

India’s frequent purchases of Russian military equipment and close ties with Russia also present another wrinkle to the planned partnership. But Biden officials said they believed that the cooperation could accelerate India’s move away from Russia, to the benefit of its relationship with the United States.

On 30 January, Sullivan, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and India’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, met with more than 40 company executives, university presidents and others, including executives from Lockheed Martin, Tata, Adani Defense and Aerospace, and Micron Technology.

“It has the potential to take US-India ties to the next level,” Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said of the initiative. The trick, she added, will be “getting from potential and promises to outcomes.”

“Many of the decisions to collaborate or not will be made in the private sector, and companies will be assessing the business case as much as, if not more than, the strategic case,” Madan said.

India has traditionally been known as a difficult partner for the United States in trade negotiations. In the talks that the Biden administration is carrying out in Asia, known as the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum, India bowed out of the trade portion of the deal, though it has continued to negotiate in areas such as clean energy, supply chains and labor standards.

But analysts said the Indian government was far more motivated on national security matters, and particularly tempted by the prospects of working with the United States to cultivate cutting-edge tech industries.

“We both have a common purpose here, which is the fear that China is going to eat our lunch in all the sectors unless we find areas to cooperate and collaborate,” said Richard M. Rossow, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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The exercise called “Yudh Abhyas” is currently underway in Auli, Uttrakhand, about 100 km from the LAC. It is the 18th edition of the India-US joint Army exercise.

China, on 30 November, said it was opposed to the joint Indo-US military exercises asserting that it violates the spirit of the two border agreements signed between New Delhi and Beijing.

Brushing aside the objection, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said here these exercises going on with the US in Auli have nothing to do with the 1993 and 1996 agreements.

“Chinese side needs to reflect and think about its own breach of these agreements. India exercises with whomsoever it chooses and does not give a veto to third countries on this issue,” he asserted.

The exercise aims to enhance interoperability and share expertise between both armies in peacekeeping and disaster relief operations. The nearly two-week exercise began earlier this month.

“The joint military exercise between India and the US close to the LAC at the China-India border violates the spirit of the agreement between China and India in 1993 and 1996,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing.

“It does not serve the mutual trust between China and India,” he said in response to a question posed by a correspondent from Pakistan. In August, the Chinese military expressed concern over the India-US military exercises.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s reference to the 1993 and 1996 agreements is interesting as India termed the PLA’s attempts to move a large number of troops to the disputed areas in the LAC in eastern Ladakh in May 2020 violated the bilateral agreements which state that the boundary question is resolved through peaceful and friendly consultations.

The military exercise is conducted annually between India and the US with the aim of exchanging best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures between the armies of the two nations.

“The 18th Edition of India-US Joint Exercise #YudhAbhyas commenced today at Foreign Training Node, Auli. The aim of Joint Exercise is to enhance interoperability & share expertise between both the Armies in Peace Keeping & Disaster Relief Operations. #IndianArmy #IndiaUSFriendship,” the Indian Army tweeted on November 19.

The previous edition of the exercise was conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska, the US in October 2021, officials said.

The Ministry of Defence in New Delhi on November 15 had said that US Army soldiers of 2nd Brigade of the 11th Airborne Division and Indian Army soldiers from the Assam Regiment will participate in the exercise.

The joint exercise will also focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. Troops from both nations will practice launching swift and coordinated relief efforts in the wake of any natural calamity, the ministry said.

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Throughout its standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing’s intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the Pentagon said in a report on 29 November.

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the United States. PRC officials have warned U.S. officials to not interfere with the PRC’s relationship with India,” the Pentagon said in its latest report to the Congress on Chinese military buildup.

In a section on the China-India border, the Pentagon said throughout 2021, the PLA sustained the deployment of forces and continued infrastructure build up along the LAC. Negotiation made minimal progress as both sides resist losing perceived advantages on the border, it said.

Beginning in May 2020, Chinese and Indian forces faced off in clashes with rocks, batons, and clubs wrapped in barbed wire at multiple locations along the LAC. The resulting standoff triggered the buildup of forces on both sides of the border. “Each country demanded the withdrawal of the other’s forces and a return to pre-standoff conditions, but neither China nor India agreed on those conditions,” it said.

 “The PRC blamed the standoff on Indian infrastructure construction, which it perceived as encroaching on PRC territory, while India accused China of launching aggressive incursions into India’s territory,” it added.

Since the 2020 clash, the PLA has maintained continuous force presence and continued infrastructure build up along the LAC.

The 2020 Galwan Valley incident was the deadliest clash between the two nations in the past 46 years, the report said. On the June 15th, 2020, patrols violently clashed in Galwan Valley resulting in the death approximately twenty Indian soldiers and four PLA soldiers, according to PRC officials, it said.

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