Even as India and the United States navigate trade frictions, defence cooperation continues to be a cornerstone of bilateral ties, a former senior US official has said.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington, Vikram Singh, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia, stressed that despite tariff disputes and policy disagreements, military-to-military engagement has not slowed.

“Even when you have problems, lines of communication have not broken down,” Singh said. “We have seen no dramatic freezing out. Instead, there is strong enthusiasm among war fighters and political leaders alike for the partnership.”

His comments came against the backdrop of U.S. tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods, including 25% penalties related to Russian oil imports. Despite these measures, both nations concluded the 21st edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2025 last week in Alaska, which the Indian embassy described as a “hallmark of the growing military-to-military interaction.”

Singh also pointed to former President Donald Trump’s warm ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “I’ve seen no indication from the Department of Defence or State that there’s a turning away from India.”

Dr Sameer Lalwani, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, added that China’s expanding military power remains the key driver of closer India-US defence ties. He noted that both Trump’s framing of a Great Power Competition with Beijing and India’s 2017 Doklam standoff with China reinforced strategic convergence.

While Trump has since adopted a more complex approach toward China—balancing tariffs with personal diplomacy—experts agreed the long-term trajectory of US-China ties remains adversarial. Singh observed that regardless of short-term trade deals, Washington will continue strengthening regional alliances, with India at the center of its Indo-Pacific strategy.