US Courting India Due to Vulnerabilities in Its Military-Industrial Base: Expert

The United States has been courting countries like India because it fully understands the vulnerabilities in its military-industrial base since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine last year, an expert has told a Sputnik podcast.

"By the way, do you know why the US is courting India? Why does it have [joint] drills with India now in Alaska? They [the US] found out that it is possible, but difficult, to fully develop the production of ammunition without the [guncotton], or the so-called powder cotton. That is, it is possible to do all this on synthetics, but it is insanely expensive. The Americans are ripening to understand the importance of real resources for deploying their military production", Dmitry Evstafyev, a political-military expert, said.

The US remains the top supplier of weapons to Ukraine among all the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies. According to German think tank the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the Biden administration has provided $75 billion in humanitarian, financial, and military support to Ukraine since last February.

He underlined that this was for the same reason that Washington has been holding joint military drills with India (Yudh Abhyas), including in Alaska.

Successive US administrations have tried to wean India away from its policy of “strategic autonomy” into a formal US-led security architecture to contain China in the Indo-Pacific. New Delhi has resisted these efforts so far.

Since last year, the Biden administration has been pressuring New Delhi to reduce its reliance on Russian defence exports, but in vain.

At the same time, Washington has been eyeing to replace Russia in India's defence market.

According to Swedish think tank the Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI), Moscow ranked as New Delhi’s top supplier of weapons between 2017 and 2022.

National Security Implications

The expert's comments echo concerns expressed by the US President Joe Biden administration officials, who testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in May that not strengthening the American defence-industrial base could have “national security implications”.

“I think there would absolutely be national security implications if we are unable to make the meaningful change that we need as a country to shore up our defence industrial base, which really is a core strategic asset”, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Strategy, Planning and Capabilities Mara Karlin said.

Karlin noted at the time that the Ukraine crisis has helped Washington “internalize” the need for investing in the defence-industrial base of not only the US, but also its allies.

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