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Several key factors will temper the pace and extent of partnership between the United States and India

• The concept of "non-alignment" did not die with the Cold War. It is more commonly described now in such terms as "strategic autonomy," but, even after a major 2020 border clash with China, India remains fiercely opposed to any partnership in which it would be seen as the junior partner.
• India regards China as its most significant long-term competitor, and Indian leaders are particularly concerned about the strategic partnership of China with India's near-term rival Pakistan. But this does not mean that New Delhi has much appetite for confrontation with Beijing — particularly outside the Indian Ocean Region.
• Relations between India and the United States have been consistently warming over the past two decades, but a deep pool of distrust remains. The United States will have to work patiently to overcome this distrust.
• Many items in the U.S. playbook of security engagement will run into institutional barriers in India. These include low levels of military funding, a security policymaking bureaucracy that is not designed for speedy decisions, and a tendency to make security policy on an ad hoc rather than a doctrinal basis.

In long-term strategic competition with China, how effectively the United States works with allies and partners will be critical to determining U.S. success. This report examines the potential benefits of, and potential impediments to, partnering more closely with India. India is already a peer or near-peer competitor of China across a range of military capabilities, and India's self-defined core national security interests are in relatively close harmony with those of the United States. However, U.S. planners must be keenly aware of the constraints on both India's willingness and capacity to forge a partnership based on strategic competition with China. These include persistent aversion to any partnership that might be characterized as "alignment," even after a major 2020 border clash with China; significant distrust of U.S. commitment and intentions; a highly risk-averse structure for the making and implementing of security policy, particularly vis-à-vis China; economic linkages with China; underfunding of basic military needs; and a lack of military capability and interoperability sufficient for frictionless interaction with U.S. forces. India will likely remain a key U.S. partner, but such challenges should moderate expectations about the pace for increased engagement.

• Chapter One

  Introduction: India in the Context of U.S.-China Competition

• Chapter Two

  India's Geostrategic Importance, Institutional Outlook, and Desire for "Strategic Autonomy" in Diplomatic and Political Relations

• Chapter Three

  India's Economic Relationship with China, and Country-by-Country Relationship Sketches

• Chapter Four

  India's Defense Calculus vis-à-vis China

• Chapter Five

  Assessment and Outlook

• Chapter Six

  Options for the United States, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Air Force

• Appendix A

  Methodology for Project Framework

• Appendix B

  Overview of India's Military