India aims to anchor military ties with US as Indo

India aims to anchor military ties with US as Indo-Pacific ‘resident power’

Despite trade tensions, a top US naval officer’s New Delhi visit signals that Washington remains keen to anchor India as a security partner

A second visit by one of the top US naval officers to India this year has raised expectations that the two countries can insulate their growing military ties from trade tensions.

US Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, who leads the US Pacific Command, is scheduled to leave India on Thursday after spending six days meeting with senior Indian defence officials and others.

The talks, which follow Paparo’s visit to India in February, come as Washington weighs further tariff pressure on India over its purchases of Russian oil and the trade imbalance in Delhi’s favour.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that negotiations for a trade deal with the United States had reached a plateau, the strongest acknowledgement by Delhi that talks on market access had stalled since they started in February last year.