This report provides an overview of current U.S.-India security engagement, a topic of interest to the U.S. Congress, where there is widely held and generally bipartisan support for a deepened U.S. partnership with the world's largest democracy, not least on issues of shared security interests. It begins with a brief discussion of the most important U.S. security interests related to India, then moves to a more detailed review of current U.S.-India security engagement in the realm of military-to-military contacts, counterterrorism and intelligence cooperation, and defense trade. Obstacles to deeper cooperation in each of these realms—variously including historical distrust and accompanying Indian wariness, geostrategic considerations, mismatched bureaucracies, and procedural hurdles, among others—are discussed throughout. The report closes with a brief conclusion addressing the outlook for future engagement and discussion of the ways in which congressional action and foreign policy oversight responsibilities can affect both the pace and scope of this engagement. With the lifting of Cold War geopolitical constraints and the near-simultaneous opening of India's economy two decades ago, the world's largest democracy has emerged as an increasingly important player on the global stage. India dominates the geography of the now strategically vital South Asia region, and its vibrant economy, pluralist society, cultural influence, and growing military power have made the country a key focus of U.S. foreign policy attention in the 21 st century. This attention is to some degree motivated by China's longer-standing and more rapid rise, with many analysts viewing U.S. and Indian geopolitical interests as convergent on many fronts, perhaps especially in the area of Asian power balances. Beginning under President George W. Bush, and continuing with President Barack Obama, the U.S. and Indian governments have been seeking to sustain and deepen a substantive "strategic partnership," even as bilateral commercial and people-to-people contacts flourish of their own accord. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describes the United States "making a strategic bet on India's future" on the assumption that "India's greater role on the world stage will enhance peace and security." As articulated in a late 2011 Pentagon report, The United States and India are natural partners, destined to be closer because of shared interests and values and our mutual desire for a stable and secure world. A strong bilateral partnership is in U.S. interests and benefits both countries. We expect India's importance to U.S. interests to grow in the long-run as India, a major regional and emerging global power, increasingly assumes roles commensurate with its position as a stakeholder and a leader in the international system. In a major October 2012 policy speech, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns declared, [T]here is growing confidence in both our countries about ... a steady convergence of interests and values.... The essence of the vital partnership that we're building lies in a simple truth. For the first time, for both of us, our individual success at home and abroad depends significantly on our cooperation. With this bilateral partnership based on shared values such as democracy, pluralism, and rule of law, numerous economic, security, and global initiatives are underway, among them unprecedented plans for civilian nuclear cooperation. The two countries also inked a 10-year defense framework agreement in 2005 to facilitate expanded bilateral security cooperation. In the new century, large-scale combined military exercises have become commonplace, and bilateral cooperation on intelligence and counterterrorism is increasing. Unprecedented major U.S. arms sales to India are completed and underway; more are anticipated. Enthusiasm and positive trends can be seen in an array of bilateral security-related activities. Evidence of a mind change in India since the Cold War period includes convincing signs that the U.S. military presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is now widely viewed as being benign. Still, many concerns remain that India is unable and/or unwilling to be the kind of international security actor U.S. leaders would like to see it become. The current coalition government at the federal level, in power since 2004, has lately appeared fragile and often shies from undertaking bold initiatives, given its acute dependence on sometimes mercurial regional allies, and with its stature weakened by multiple corruption scandals. The country's endemic poverty is exacerbated by a wider societal corruption and—despite the growth of a large "middle-class" and booming information technology sector—India's gross domestic product per capita in 2011 was only $3,632, compared to $8,466 for China and $48,442 for the United States. High rates of economic growth seen in India during the 2000s have lately declined even as the population soars, bringing into question whether New Delhi's growing but still relatively paltry resources and military capabilities can continue to increase as projected. At present, the sometimes touted equipment and capabilities of India's armed forces—in particular their ability to project power over air and sea—remain quite modest in comparison with those of China. In a broad sense, there has emerged no consensus in New Delhi about what India can and should seek through its security cooperation with the United States. Those who do offer a set of expectations and demands of the relationship can fail to recognize that, for an American audience, "A viable strategic partnership calls for reciprocity," as flatly put by one senior scholar. Many in Washington were discouraged in 2011 when New Delhi "deselected" two U.S.-built combat aircraft (the F-16 and F/A-18) from consideration for India's planned $11 billion purchase of 126 new frontline planes. No less importantly, Indian leaders continue to demonstrate an aversion to assuming the kinds of new security-related postures and activities the United States seeks for India—their tepid response to the "Arab Spring" is a case in point—and they face domestic electoral calculations that can reinforce this aversion. India's focused effort to maintain "strategic autonomy" is likely to keep progress in U.S.-India security cooperation measured, incremental, and largely bereft of dramatic breakthroughs such as that involving civilian nuclear power. Even recognizing these circumstances, there is widespread, bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for sustaining and expanding the partnership with India, not least in the areas relevant to U.S. and global security. In funding U.S. foreign aid programs such as Anti-Terrorism Assistance and International Military Education and Training, Congress makes budgetary choices that can directly affect the scope and pace of U.S.-India military-to-military ties and bilateral cooperation in counterterrorism. Congressional oversight powers provide a role in shaping the course of progress in these areas, and Congress has a role in allowing major defense trade with India. In mid-2012, the co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus penned a letter to the Deputy Secretary of Defense strongly urging him to press the Indian government to continue its efforts to improve its defense procurement procedures, as well as to "aggressively pursue co-development or co-production opportunities," which they contend "would prove mutually beneficial not just to the U.S. and Indian defense industries, but also to the long-term relationship of our two militaries." The 21 st century rise of Asia lies at the heart of Washington's revaluation vis-à-vis India. Booming Asian economies—and the accompanying spike in demand for energy resources—have prioritized the region as a key concern for the United States. The United States is increasingly dependent on Asian markets for trade and investment to sustain and grow its own economy. As a result, it seeks to encourage and foster stability across the newly conceived Indo-Pacific region by working with allies and partners to bolster security, widen open markets, and ensure freedom of navigation across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), from the Persian Gulf to the Straits of Malacca, and extending throughout the western Pacific and East and South China Seas. This region contains Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) that are crucial to Asia's trade with the rest of the world and for the transit of energy resources that fuel Asian economic growth (see Figure 1 ). In this context, geopolitical realignments after 1991—and India's significantly increased economic and military capabilities over the past decade—have dramatically increased India's visibility and potential utility in U.S. security calculations. India is today described as being a defense cooperation "linchpin" in the Obama Administration's strategy of "rebalancing" toward Asia, a strategy that includes "expanding military partnerships" in South Asia. Perhaps the key security concern for Washington in Asia is China's growing military capabilities and assertiveness, and a U.S. strategy that seeks to prevent the emergence of a hegemonic power in Asia. An increasingly assertive and even aggressive Beijing can potentially leverage its military clout in a fractured geopolitical neighborhood to obstruct both the American presence and the realization of U.S. goals in the region. Any U.S. military withdrawal from the Asia-Pacific could seriously undercut Washington's economic and political influence there. The resulting strategy for Washington has been to "pivot" or "rebalance" toward the Asia-Pacific, while strengthening existing alliances and partnerships with countries across Asia. Islamist extremism and militancy have been a growing security threat to the United States in recent decades, peaking with Al Qaeda's attacks of September 2001. South Asia has been a particular focus of U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. As the largest, most populous and most economically successful country in the region, India has long suffered from Islamist terrorism and is an avid proponent of countering the threat, particularly that emanating from Pakistan. Despite sometimes contrasting policies toward Islamabad, Washington and New Delhi have moved forward rapidly with bilateral counterterrorism cooperation, especially in the wake of the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai.