India Should Figure High On New President’s Agenda: U.S. Think Tank

With just 100 days left in Barack Obama's presidency, a top American think-tank has suggested the new U.S. president meet the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi within the first 100 days of assuming office to strongly signal the importance of continuing close relations between the two countries.

In a report on 'India-U.S. Security Co-operation', the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) urges the upcoming administration to ensure that India signs the foundational agreements, which it believes is important for strengthening the India-U.S. defence relationship.

"The next administration should work with Australia, India and Japan to establish a quadrilateral security dialogue, led by the U.S. State Department and foreign ministries. The dialogue should focus on issues of common interest across the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions," the report says.

It said creating a specific opportunity for the U.S. president and Indian Prime Minister to meet in the first 100 days will send a strong signal about the importance of bilateral ties.

CSIS in its report recommends that the U.S. and India should deepen announced efforts on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare to include combined training and exercises to expand the capability of both countries as well as their inter-operability with each other.

Seeking to increase the FDI limit in defence sector to 100 percent, the report also calls for strengthening and expanding the homeland security dialogue.

The think-tank recommends that the new president should invite India to participate (as an observer or stakeholder) in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group talks with the Taliban.

CSIS said Modi's emergence as a strong leader, just as the U.S. was seeking to consolidate its strategy of re-balance to the Asia Pacific, gave America an opportunity to engage with a rising leader in India, and India an opportunity to reprioritise and rethink its engagement with the world.

Obama continues a bipartisan run of three presidents who have seen India as key to U.S. strategy in Asia, it said.

Observing that Obama has built a strong relationship with Modi, and maintained a high tempo of engagements at the highest levels, the report said the U.S. engagement with India has increasingly focused on the security aspects and India has responded with uncharacteristic warmth to this outreach.