US-India COMPACT Initiative
The US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century is a new strategic cooperation initiative launched by US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aims to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation, focusing on defence and high-tech sectors.
Key Objectives and Outcomes
- Countering China: The initiative aims to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific and secure India's borders—land, air, and maritime.
- Military Sales: Plans to increase military sales to India, including potential sales of F-35 stealth fighters, were discussed.
- Defence Cooperation: A 10-year defence cooperation framework is in the works, emphasizing defence interoperability, logistics, repair, and maintenance.
- Defence Inventory: Integration of US-origin defence items into India's inventory, such as C-130J Super Hercules and MQ-9Bs, is underway.
- Procurement and Co-production: New procurements and co-production arrangements for 'Javelin' Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and 'Stryker' Infantry Combat Vehicles are planned.
- Regulatory Alignment: Both nations will review arms transfer regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), to enhance defence trade and technology exchange.
Strategic Partnerships and Agreements
- Major Defence Partner: India is recognized as a Major Defence Partner with Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) status.
- Reciprocal Defence Procurement Agreement: Negotiations for an RDP agreement to align procurement systems and enable reciprocal defence goods and services supply are planned.
- Technology Cooperation: Accelerating defence technology cooperation across various fields such as space, air defence, missile, maritime, and undersea technologies.
The joint statement emphasizes the historic nature of these initiatives in deepening the US-India partnership and addressing strategic interests.