While India’s policy elite have surely not been ‘oblivious’ of the tectonic changes occurring in the region, they have been rather ‘impervious’ to the rapidly emerging equations.
While India’s ability to handle the challenges may be constrained by a slowing economy, it would need to manage them through requisite diplomatic skill and finesse.
There certainly exists some logic behind India, Japan and the US working together, and that too in a region that lacks solid security architecture.
Cyber security cooperation should be a natural area of cooperation between India and the United States for a number of reasons; both countries are democracies, with similar values and economic systems
In a world where US primacy will remain a distinctive feature for a considerable time to come, India will require American global leadership to realise its own national interests.
If India ratifies the CSC, both the right of the operator for recourse against the supplier and any third party action against the supplier would be nullified, thus providing American companies a singular advantage.
To resolve the challenge posed by the NPT criteria, the best solution would be to amend the NPT and accommodate India as a nuclear weapon state.
Common sense suggests that India as the weaker partner has much more to gain from the relationship with the U.S., but common sense has always been somewhat scarce in Indian strategic thought.
The present state of affairs indicates that India will continue to be a reservoir of talent for other countries to power their growth, than the global innovation powerhouse that it aspires to be.
Defence diplomacy helps build trust and confidence between nations and facilitates cooperation at political and economic level. This is evident from the growing US-India strategic relationship.