India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held talks with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, who arrived on a two-day visit to the nation seeking to bolster Indo-American ties in the defence sector.
They two officials were expected to discuss General Electric's proposal to share its jet fighter technologies with India and the purchase of 30 MQ-9B Reaper drones worth over $3 billion from the US military contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
After negotiations with Austin, Singh is scheduled to meet with his counterpart from Germany, Boris Pistorius, who will be on a four-day visit in India.
NATO 'Export' to Indo-Pacific?
Lloyd's visit to India comes amid rising speculation about NATO's "export' to the Indo-Pacific region, as Washington has been seeking to bolster NATO-like alliances in the region.
Despite Australian assurances that no such thing is underway, it is clear that the US administration is exploring all possible ways to counter China's growing influence in the Asia-Pacific, which is clearly reflected in NATO's "Strategic Concept" released last year.
Therefore, the US is eyeing India in a bid to "co-opt" New Delhi in its confrontation with China over Taiwan.
In April, US officials intensified calls to invite India to join NATO+, which currently includes Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, and South Korea.
While India is a major part of the Quad grouping (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States), it has never joined any military alliance. This stance is the main point of India's "strategic autonomy".
Experts have warned New Delhi against becoming a "camp follower" of the West, as any military escalation in the Indo-Pacific would not be in the interests of India or the region's nations in general.