Indo American Relations

India’s most important bilateral relationship is with the US. The two democracies have been uniquely molded together since India’s Independence in 1947. Since then, the US has been a partner to India, helping the country set up the early Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), spurring India’s Green Revolution, and fostering educational exchange through the 200,000 Indian citizens studying in the US today. Trade between the two countries rose to $126 billion in 2017, and there are approximately 4 million Indian-Americans in the US enhancing this strategic relationship, which extends far beyond trade. The partnership has developed into more than a friendship between two democracies and their leaders. In every aspect, this relationship has never been more relevant to geopolitics.

There are those in India who downplay the importance of the relationship. Opponents of the US-India relationship harken back to India’s long-standing policy of non-alignment—a policy recently expressed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Shangri-La speech in Singapore in June, when he noted that India does not pick favourites when it comes to foreign policy. These critics also remind us that the US sanctioned India for its nuclear tests back in 1998, though the relationship, especially with regards to defence, has changed drastically since then through the countries’ Major Defense Partnership, which has been in effect since 2016.

Critics may argue that nothing has changed if CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) sanctions are imposed when India receives an S-400 from Russia, but this issue was recently resolved, thanks to Secretary James Mattis’ herculean efforts to convince the US Congress to carve out a waiver “allowing" the S-400 purchase without sanctions. India should rest assured that Mattis’ work won’t go to waste. It would not make sense for the Donald Trump administration to spend significant political capital on India with the US Congress, only to have the US State Department not grant a waiver—especially after India signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement )—a decade’s old ask of the US and the key deliverable of the recent 2+2 dialogue—allowing the US to transfer secure communications and data equipment to India and offer real-time data-sharing with the Indian military over secure channels. This victory for the bilateral demonstrates that India understands that its non-alignment rhetoric should not push India closer to Russia or China.