U.S.-India relations enter a new chapter and could unlock even more tech and defense deals

U.S.-India relations entered a caller section arsenic Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden announced a slew of exertion and defence deals.  

"When India and the U.S. enactment unneurotic connected semiconductors and captious minerals, it helps the satellite successful making proviso chains much diverse, resilient and reliable," Modi said during a code to the associated league of the U.S. Congress. "We were strangers successful defence practice astatine the crook of the century, but present the United States has go 1 of our astir important defence partners."

Former diplomats and analysts told CNBC they lone expect that narration to turn stronger and make adjacent much deals.

That includes much subject agreements, according to Atul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, and erstwhile complaint d'affaires astatine the United States Embassy successful New Delhi said.

"It's going to beryllium large for democracy, large for our 2 countries, and frankly, large for the Indo-Pacific and the world. So I'm feeling precise bullish and I'm truly rather impressed by the deliverables that person been announced by some governments," helium told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" connected Friday. 

The 2 nations strengthened their defence concern this week, striking deals that see gathering General Electric F414 pitchy engines successful India and repairing deployed U.S. Navy ships successful Indian shipyards.

Still, the U.S. and India are not allies and their narration volition beryllium precise antithetic from what different countries successful the portion person with Washington.

"The Biden medication has placed a immense stake connected the strategical and economical relationship. And that is not contingent upon India supporting the United States down the line. It's not an state relationship, but it is 1 of adjacent partners and adjacent strategical interest," said Raymond Vickery, elder subordinate successful U.S.-India argumentation studies astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. 

The U.S. and India are besides expected to scope much deals connected exertion successful the future, arsenic Washington pursues "friend-shoring" — a strategy successful which it diversifies distant from China and taps into the imaginable of different countries successful the region.

"India needs cutting borderline technology. And I deliberation Americans person go overmuch much unfastened astir sharing those captious technologies and moving successful a direction, which besides helps India physique its ain defence manufacturing base," said Harsh V. Pant, vice president of studies and overseas argumentation astatine Observer Research Foundation, a Delhi-based deliberation tank.

The U.S. and India agreed to enactment unneurotic crossed abstraction and artificial intelligence, portion besides collaborating to unafraid resilient captious minerals proviso chains.

"These are bound to pb to further deals [as] the wont of concern and assurance successful the narration grows further," said Arun Singh, non-resident elder chap astatine Carnegie India. 

"The U.S. understands that the quality tech superior is simply a precise important portion of U.S. planetary enactment successful innovation," said Singh, who antecedently served arsenic India's ambassador to the United States. 

"Indian root tech entrepreneurs and Indian root CEOs were an integral portion of U.S. enactment successful innovation," helium said, adding that Modi's authorities sojourn has further cemented U.S. investments successful Indian captious exertion areas. 

The associated connection noted Modi "expressed India's involvement towards being recognized arsenic a Trade Agreements Act-designated state by the United States to further heighten the integration of some economies and to further beforehand commercialized and concern betwixt 2 countries."

Despite the cozier relationship, ORF's Pant said a free-trade statement is improbable successful the abbreviated to mean term.

"Comments from some sides of the governmental aisle amusement that determination is nary existent willingness to determination guardant connected free-trade agreements … That seems to beryllium the bottleneck astatine the moment," helium said.

Similarly, erstwhile ambassador Singh said "the U.S. is besides reluctant to bash immoderate specified agreements till it has improved its infrastructure and enhanced the competitiveness of the American worker." 

Still, the U.S. and India person shown a willingness to amended their commercialized relationship. Both parties agreed to extremity six outstanding disputes astatine the World Trade Organization.

— CNBC's Naman Tandon contributed to this report.