COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –
Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, traveled to the U.S. Indo-Pacific area of responsibility March 3-8, 2026, to participate in the 2026 Raisina Dialogue and meet with leaders representing both U.S. and Indian government and private industry organizations.
Arriving in the midst of Holi, the Hindu festival of colors celebrated each Spring, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor welcomed Whiting and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in New Delhi, where the leaders received a tour of the landmark showcasing India’s rich spiritual and artistic heritage.
Whiting then met with Gor to discuss the already prominent partnership between the U.S. and India in space through collective projects like the Axiom-4 mission and the NASA-Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, and explore opportunities for further security cooperation.
He also participated in a commercial roundtable discussion with more than a dozen industry leaders, hosted by the Indian Space Association (ISpA), an advocacy association comprised of Indian space and satellite manufacturing companies. The conversation built upon the 10-year U.S.-India defense framework and sought to deepen integration between the defense industrial bases and expertise of each nation for mutual benefit and continued assured access to space.
He met with General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces, and Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee, at the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff where they discussed bilateral issues and evolving security dynamics in the space domain, and avenues to enhance collaboration, including joint exercises that integrate the space domain.
India’s civilian space agency ISRO also hosted Whiting where they discussed operationalizing their Space Situational Awareness data-sharing agreement with USSPACECOM. Among many ambitious space projects in India’s future, ISRO plans to launch its first multi-crewed mission in 2027 carrying several astronauts—making it the fourth nation to launch humans independently.
On March 7 at the Raisina Dialogue, Whiting participated in a fireside chat moderated by Dr. Harsh Pant on “The New Race in Space.” The discussion centered on the conference’s theme of “Assertion, Accommodation, and Advancement,” and explored the evolution of space into a strategic domain in which military, civil, commercial, and scientific missions occur simultaneously, and the implications for those actors overlapping.
“I think in in any domain, anywhere around the world, it is a balance of both [competition and collaboration],” Whiting said. “Even up to today, we’ve seen that [space] is a place that great powers are competing, but it’s an incredible area for cooperation as well. We’ve seen that over the years, and certainly in the United States, we have a rich number of partners and allies that we operate together in space.”
In 2025, India and the U.S. signed a 10-year defense framework agreement to deepen military cooperation and enhance interoperability. The pact, which Whiting pointed to during his remarks, seeks to strengthen security in the region by bolstering integration in key areas.
“[The framework] calls out a number of areas where we want to continue to deepen the strategic partnership,” Whiting said. “And space is one of those.”
Held annually in New Delhi, India, the 2026 conference marked the 11th iteration of the forum, bringing together international leaders for discussions on geopolitics and geoeconomics. This year’s U.S. delegation was headed by Deputy Secretary of State Landau.
Later that day, Whiting spoke with Palki Sharma, managing editor of First Post, on the “Ideas Pod,” show. He highlighted the role of space-based capabilities not just for military activities, but for the global economy and modern way of life. He also noted the incredible advantage of partnering with like-minded nations in the space domain to enhance our collective security and shape a secure future for space operations.
“Each nation is responsible within some international law,” Whiting said, citing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty principles, which includes that states shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities. “And the United States wants to model those professional and safe behaviors that help us to understand when we are operating that way, when like-minded nations are operating that way,” he continued.
“We think the partnerships that we have with international nations like India and others are really a strength of the United States,” Whiting said.
Whiting’s engagements reinforced the U.S.-India defense relationship and highlighted the intrinsic link between space capabilities and national protection priorities, and the importance of our partnerships across all operational domains to strengthening deterrence and achieving peace through strength.