India becoming quasi US ally

INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES will conduct the "Yudh Abhyas" joint exercise in the United States from Sept 14 to 27. Beijing News commented on Wednesday:

The September India-US drills, which have been held annually since 2004, will see more than 200 Indian soldiers visit the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the US. This year, the focus of the exercise has reportedly shifted from anti-terrorism missions to "more complex, combined arms, division-level" ones. The exercise comes two months after this year's Malabar Naval Exercise, conducted by the US, Japan and India in the Bay of Bengal, which dubiously prioritized antisubmarine operations involving the US Navy's Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, the Indian Navy's sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and Japan's 27,000-tonne helicopter carrier cruiser Izumo.

After Narendra Modi was sworn in as Indian prime minister in 2014, Washington and New Delhi have been getting so close that the latter, an outspoken advocate of the nonaligned movement, is poised to become a quasi US ally - at least in defense terms.