US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visits India, sends signal to China

In the years since 2016, India has signed three "foundational agreements" with the US, which enable deeper cooperation and the exchange of classified information and equipment

Signalling an emphatic break from the Trump administration’s neglect of alliances and allies, top officials from President Joe Biden’s administration fanned out across the Asia-Pacific this week to engage countries that the US considers strategic partners against a rising and aggressive China.

A key part of this messaging was the visit of America’s Secretary of Defense, General Lloyd Austin III, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday evening to discuss “deepening the US-India Major Defence Partnership” and to advance cooperation “for a free, prosperous and open Indo-Pacific and Western Indian Ocean Region.”

After Austin’s meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi