Building a Partnership between the United States and India: Exploring Airpower's Potential

Abstract

Relations between the United States and India have expanded in the nature, content, and depth of the countries partnership over the last decade. Highlighting the importance of these relations, President Barack Obama during his visit to India in November 2010 described relations with India as one of the defining and indispensable partnerships of the 21st century. 1 Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister at that time, echoed similar sentiments when he said that India had decided to accelerate the deepening of our ties and to work as equal partners in a strategic relationship that will positively and decisively influence world peace, stability and progress. 2 Bilateral relations are important on their own; however, Prime Minister Singh emphasized a shared vision of security, stability and prosperity in Asia based on an open and inclusive regional architecture that both India and the United States share as the apex of the relationship.3 Therefore, if this partnership is as important as the two leaders seem to suggest, a greater strategic synergy is needed. One way of attaining it is through improved military-to-military relations. That is, as the two countries better understand and appreciate each other, they can work jointly for the greater good of the region and beyond. This article suggests that a greater focus on the development of airpower diplomacy by both the US Air Force (USAF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a strategic and operational capability integrated into the mission set of both services could mitigate conflict, preserve USAF and IAF assets during a time of tight budgets, and further the interests of both nations in the Asia-Pacific. As we define airpower diplomacy, it is a proactive approach to preventing and deterring conflict, building partnerships, and defending national interests by employing airpower in nonkinetic operations as an instrument of national power.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2015
Accession Number
ADA617817

Entities

People

  • Adam B. Lowther
  • Rajeswari P. Rajagopalan

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Asia
  • Cargo Aircraft
  • Foreign Policy
  • Governments
  • Military Science
  • Nato
  • Security
  • Training
  • Transport Aircraft
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security