We face a formidable set of international challenges, from the freedom of access to shared maritime and air routes, humanitarian crises in an increasingly interconnected world, and the continuing threat from non-state actors and extremist groups. Moreover, as India rises and becomes more influential, a stable and just international system becomes more important for its prosperity than ever before. Maintaining and expanding this global order will require our collective efforts and our resolve. As I have said before, when India and the United States cooperate, we are stronger together.
This idea of "stronger together" is not new to India - one could argue that it was in fact developed in India. I am sure that many of you are familiar with the stories of thePanchatantra, which some scholars argue influencedAesop's Fables. These amazing stories provide life lessons to children, but also offer sound advice to sophisticated strategic thinkers. One story, which I have recounted to my kids, is "The Winning of Friends" from Book II of the Panchatantra.
This story, as you know, is about a unique group of friends - a deer, turtle, mouse, and crow. When they are alone, they are vulnerable to all sorts of threats. However, when they work together, they are able to combine their skills and overcome adversity. I firmly believe that by working together and harnessing our unique strengths, the United States and India will be able to address many of the challenges that both of our countries and the world face.
In our 2015 US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, signed during President Obama's recent January visit, we stressed working "together to promote the shared values that have made our countries great". And the Declaration of Friendship, also from January, builds upon these long-standing values and specifically references our mutual respect for "an open, just, sustainable, and inclusive rule-based global order".
Our key strategic planning documents of the past year, in particular, envisage an essential role for US/India cooperation at all levels. Take, for example, this passage in the 2015 US National Security Strategy: "In south Asia, we continue to strengthen our strategic and economic partnership with India. As the world's largest democracies, we share inherent values and mutual interests that form the cornerstone of our cooperation, particularly in the areas of security, energy, and the environment. We support India's role as a regional provider of security and its expanded participation in critical regional institutions. We see a strategic convergence with India's Act East policy and our continued implementation of the re-balance to Asia and the Pacific."
Fundamental to our readiness to respond to future crises are our regular engagements, including bilateral and joint exercises, International Military Education & Training (IMET), subject matter expert exchanges, and national agreements. Our success in these endeavours will have profound, positive effects for the entire world and will help ensure our mutual prosperity. I'm pleased that joint US and Indian defence exercises and training continue to set a very high bar. We are jointly preparing the military leaders of tomorrow and ensuring their respective units are the best equipped and best trained. We have moved to a phase in our defence relationship where we discuss and explore jointness of operations and interoperability. We are building a premier defence partnership for the future.
In the US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, both of our countries affirmed that our belief in regional prosperity depends on ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea. This affirmation is relevant because the world is connected by shared spaces - the skies, space, rivers and oceans, and cyberspace - that enable and promote the free flow of people, goods, services, and ideas.
For example, in today's dynamic and globally connected world, a deeper understanding of the maritime domain and the readiness to protect critical trade routes has never been more important. The United States and India have been increasing cooperation in these areas over the past several years. For example, our Exercise MALABAR 2015 is to be the most complex naval exercise we've executed together, with a US Carrier Strike Group, a submarine, and a P-8 exercising together with an Indian destroyer, frigate, oiler, and its own P-8.
Through the Joint Working Group for Aircraft Carrier Technology, we have also forged a path that seeks to cooperatively improve India's burgeoning aircraft carrier development programme and develop its carrier aviation expertise. This programme is one of the success stories borne of our Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, and is also symbolic of how far US-India defence cooperation has advanced as it wasn't too long ago that the American aircraft carrier was a symbol that divided the US from India. Today it is a topic of cooperation that has brought us closer together.
We recently did an exchange on air defence where our two air forces brought together their experts to share best practices and ideas on defending critical areas like the skies over our national capitals. It is through training and exercising together that we can practice these and other shared tactics, to hone our skills. The Indian Air Force participating in RED FLAG this coming April is the perfect environment for this and we welcome their return after a six-year hiatus.
The United States and India have committed to making counter-terrorism cooperation a key component of our bilateral relationship. In recent years, the United States has led a global coalition to degrade, disrupt and dismantle terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIL. President Obama and Prime Minister Modi have also called for eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing, and stopping their cross-border movement. Our leaders have also affirmed the need for joint and concerted efforts to disrupt and degrade entities such as LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company and the Haqqani Network, and agreed to continue ongoing efforts through the Homeland Security Dialogue and the US-India Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism.
We are also working on efforts to improve cooperation on UN terrorist designations and expand the sharing of information on known or suspected terrorists no matter where they may be located. Our counterterrorism cooperation can become a model for the region and potentially for the world, and it is another factor that makes me genuinely optimistic about our future defense and security partnership together.
This idea of "stronger together" is not new to India - one could argue that it was in fact developed in India. I am sure that many of you are familiar with the stories of thePanchatantra, which some scholars argue influencedAesop's Fables. These amazing stories provide life lessons to children, but also offer sound advice to sophisticated strategic thinkers. One story, which I have recounted to my kids, is "The Winning of Friends" from Book II of the Panchatantra.
This story, as you know, is about a unique group of friends - a deer, turtle, mouse, and crow. When they are alone, they are vulnerable to all sorts of threats. However, when they work together, they are able to combine their skills and overcome adversity. I firmly believe that by working together and harnessing our unique strengths, the United States and India will be able to address many of the challenges that both of our countries and the world face.
In our 2015 US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, signed during President Obama's recent January visit, we stressed working "together to promote the shared values that have made our countries great". And the Declaration of Friendship, also from January, builds upon these long-standing values and specifically references our mutual respect for "an open, just, sustainable, and inclusive rule-based global order".
Our key strategic planning documents of the past year, in particular, envisage an essential role for US/India cooperation at all levels. Take, for example, this passage in the 2015 US National Security Strategy: "In south Asia, we continue to strengthen our strategic and economic partnership with India. As the world's largest democracies, we share inherent values and mutual interests that form the cornerstone of our cooperation, particularly in the areas of security, energy, and the environment. We support India's role as a regional provider of security and its expanded participation in critical regional institutions. We see a strategic convergence with India's Act East policy and our continued implementation of the re-balance to Asia and the Pacific."
Fundamental to our readiness to respond to future crises are our regular engagements, including bilateral and joint exercises, International Military Education & Training (IMET), subject matter expert exchanges, and national agreements. Our success in these endeavours will have profound, positive effects for the entire world and will help ensure our mutual prosperity. I'm pleased that joint US and Indian defence exercises and training continue to set a very high bar. We are jointly preparing the military leaders of tomorrow and ensuring their respective units are the best equipped and best trained. We have moved to a phase in our defence relationship where we discuss and explore jointness of operations and interoperability. We are building a premier defence partnership for the future.
In the US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, both of our countries affirmed that our belief in regional prosperity depends on ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea. This affirmation is relevant because the world is connected by shared spaces - the skies, space, rivers and oceans, and cyberspace - that enable and promote the free flow of people, goods, services, and ideas.
For example, in today's dynamic and globally connected world, a deeper understanding of the maritime domain and the readiness to protect critical trade routes has never been more important. The United States and India have been increasing cooperation in these areas over the past several years. For example, our Exercise MALABAR 2015 is to be the most complex naval exercise we've executed together, with a US Carrier Strike Group, a submarine, and a P-8 exercising together with an Indian destroyer, frigate, oiler, and its own P-8.
Through the Joint Working Group for Aircraft Carrier Technology, we have also forged a path that seeks to cooperatively improve India's burgeoning aircraft carrier development programme and develop its carrier aviation expertise. This programme is one of the success stories borne of our Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, and is also symbolic of how far US-India defence cooperation has advanced as it wasn't too long ago that the American aircraft carrier was a symbol that divided the US from India. Today it is a topic of cooperation that has brought us closer together.
We recently did an exchange on air defence where our two air forces brought together their experts to share best practices and ideas on defending critical areas like the skies over our national capitals. It is through training and exercising together that we can practice these and other shared tactics, to hone our skills. The Indian Air Force participating in RED FLAG this coming April is the perfect environment for this and we welcome their return after a six-year hiatus.
The United States and India have committed to making counter-terrorism cooperation a key component of our bilateral relationship. In recent years, the United States has led a global coalition to degrade, disrupt and dismantle terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIL. President Obama and Prime Minister Modi have also called for eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing, and stopping their cross-border movement. Our leaders have also affirmed the need for joint and concerted efforts to disrupt and degrade entities such as LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company and the Haqqani Network, and agreed to continue ongoing efforts through the Homeland Security Dialogue and the US-India Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism.
We are also working on efforts to improve cooperation on UN terrorist designations and expand the sharing of information on known or suspected terrorists no matter where they may be located. Our counterterrorism cooperation can become a model for the region and potentially for the world, and it is another factor that makes me genuinely optimistic about our future defense and security partnership together.
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