WASHINGTON, D.C. — A key U.S. congressional subcommittee will hold a public hearing on December 10 to assess the trajectory of the India–U.S. strategic partnership, with a focus on defence, economic and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries.
The hearing, titled “The US–India Strategic Partnership: Securing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” was announced by the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on South and Central Asia. The session will be chaired by Congressman Bill Huizenga of Michigan.
Testimony will be provided by leading analysts who closely track India’s role in the Indo-Pacific. The scheduled witnesses include Jeff Smith, Director of the Asian Studies Centre at the Heritage Foundation; Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director of ORF America; and Sameer Lalwani, Senior Fellow with the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
The hearing is expected to cover India’s defence modernisation, growing military interoperability with the United States, technology cooperation, regional diplomatic engagement and joint efforts to advance a rules-based Indo-Pacific framework.
The review comes as Washington and New Delhi expand collaboration in key areas such as maritime domain awareness, critical technologies and supply-chain diversification. The India–U.S. partnership has maintained strong bipartisan support in Congress, with lawmakers viewing India as a central element of U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
Hearings of this nature allow lawmakers to examine policy priorities, identify challenges and reinforce long-term political commitment to one of America’s most consequential bilateral relationships.
The announcement also coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in New Delhi for a two-day summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The three scheduled witnesses — Jeff Smith, Dhruva Jaishankar and Sameer Lalwani — are prominent Indian-origin strategic experts based in Washington.
In recent years, the two nations have increased cooperation under the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), opening new avenues in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors and defence innovation. India’s expanding role in the Indo-Pacific continues to elevate its strategic importance across diplomatic, security and supply-chain discussions in Washington. (Source: IANS)
