US military seeks to turn India into logistics hub in anti-China bid: Report

The US intends to transform India into a major hub for maintenance and resupplying of its warships in the South Asia region as part of a military partnership pact aimed at countering China, which the leaders of the two nations reached during a summit in Washington, a report says.

“The US will provide India with support to develop infrastructure that will be used to resupply, repair and maintain [military] ships and aircraft,” major Japanese daily Nikkei reported.

The paper cited a major US-India military partnership mentioned in the joint statement issued late last month following a summit meeting in Washington between India’s visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden.

The US Navy, it said, will sign ship repair agreements with Indian shipyards.

"We'll have much more to follow in the near future, but the aim here is to make India a logistics hub for the United States and other partners in the Indo-Pacific region," US Defense Department Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder announced following the summit in late June.

Citing the White House, the paper said the US Navy has concluded a Master Ship Repair Agreement with the Larsen & Toubro shipyard near the Indian city of Chennai. 

The US Navy, it added, is close to finalizing separate deals with two other shipbuilders, based in Mumbai and Goa.

At present, Japan and Singapore serve as key naval hubs for the US military in Asia.

According to the report, the American military seeks to build readiness “for quickly handling resupply activities and repairs in the Indo-Pacific region”.

"There's a big gap between the bases the United States sustains in the bilateral hub agreements they have in the Middle East and then the Western Pacific. So, India fulfills this," said Jeffrey Payne, assistant professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies.

Former commander of US Indo-Pacific Command Harry Harris hailed the recent agreement between New Delhi and Washington.

"Currently, we operate from Diego Garcia and Western Australia in the Indian Ocean. Securing a maintenance, repair, and logistics hub on the Subcontinent is significant as this would give us much-needed flexibility in the vast Indian Ocean region."

The US also plans to arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in a trilateral agreement aligned with Britain last year, prompting strong reaction by China, which censured the agreement, insisting that it will threaten global security.

US, UK unveil plan to arm Australia with nuclear-powered subs, eyeing China

The Biden administration unveils details of a joint agreement with Britain and Australia to supply Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines as part of a trilateral security pact between the three countries.

"We are certainly trying to improve the amount of access into a number of places where we can conduct expeditionary resupply, expeditionary refuel [and] if required, expeditionary rearm," said Rear Adm. Mark Melson, commander of the US Navy's logistics group stationed in Singapore.

The Biden administration intends to deepen its partnership with New Delhi beyond the Indian Ocean in the maritime space.

Assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink, attended a recent event held by a major US think tank and underlined Washington’s push to further enhance its collaboration with India in the South China Sea.

This is while the US has threatened in recent years to impose sanctions on India after it sought to acquire air defense systems from Russia.  

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