If a week is a long time in politics, a month may seem like a century. This truism stands reinforced in light of recent developments. From Joe Biden’s debate debacle on 27 June, the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump on 13 July to Biden dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Kamala Harris on 21 July — all in less than a month.
With barely 80 days to go for the presidential election, the race to the White House has divided America. Let alone being on the same page, Republicans and Democrats are not even on the same shelf on most issues, with a handful of notable exceptions. Among them is sustained strong ties with India, for which bipartisan support has never been higher in Washington.
This partnership has multiple dimensions, from security, shared prosperity to transfer of technology, space cooperation and beyond. Set in stone with the continued endorsement of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, India-US ties can now withstand strain irrespective of differences of opinion on issues. Think White House’s position on India’s purchase of Russian oil, or two instances from recent months that made global headlines.
In June, a seven-member US Congressional delegation called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to endorse a deeper ‘Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership’ in all areas. Prior to the meeting, the delegation met the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh where he has been in exile since 1959.
Led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas in his tenth term, the delegation also included Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat from California who led the party in the House from 2003 to 2023 during which time she served as House Speaker twice.
And in July, Marco Rubio, the senior Republican senator from Florida, introduced a bill in the Senate which sought to treat India on par with other allies like Japan, Israel, South Korea and NATO allies in matters of technology transfers, and territorial integrity. Introducing the US-India Defence Cooperation Act, Rubio said, “Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region, all while it seeks to impede the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners. It’s crucial for the US to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics. India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone.”
India’s window of opportunity
These developments reinforce that India is now looking at an unprecedented but limited window of opportunity to further bolster ties with the US and elevate the bilateral relationship to the next level. It is equally important to factor in the globally acknowledged notion that Russia has been reduced to a vassal state of China and the possibility of Beijing being a friend to New Delhi seems a long shot in the foreseeable future.
This brings us to the question: how can the Modi-led NDA government, in its third term, build on this over the next five years?
To begin with, both countries must continue to focus their energies on cementing two key aspects of the bilateral relationship, security and trade.
India-US defence cooperation is by and large guided by the ‘New Framework for India-US Defence Cooperation’ which was renewed for another 10 years in 2015. There are also mechanisms and fora in place to boost security cooperation. These include the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, the Defence Policy Group, the India-U.S. Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, the Counter Narcotics Working Group and the India-U.S. Cyber Dialogue, besides military-to-military exchanges and transfer of critical and emerging technologies.
Also read:
Extending partnership
The technological partnership also extends to other areas. For instance, in June, India approved a $318-million investment to build a Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. Once complete, it will work alongside similar facilities in the US, Europe and Japan to look for gravitational waves that provide insights into the origins of the universe.
Next, is trade. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), total bilateral trade between the two countries touched $191.43 billion in 2022. During FY 202-23, the US was India’s third largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) with inflows of $6.04 billion. Data by the Indian government shows India has a trade surplus of $36.74 billion with the U.S
However, these figures are also an indication of the extent to which the two countries can boost bilateral trade without harming the interests of their domestic markets. Leaders of both countries have time and again reiterated the need to take bilateral trade to the next level, but much needs to be done to realise the full potential of this shared commitment to prosperity.
That said, the Government of India will benefit from being thick-skinned to criticism from the American Left and investing heavily in fine-tuning various bilateral initiatives during closed-door talks. Modi’s visit to New York towards the end of September during which he is to address the UN General Assembly presents a great opportunity to get the ball rolling.
Asha Jadeja is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur, venture capitalist, philanthropist and a ‘change agent’. She tweets @ashajadeja325. Views are personal.
The article is sponsored by the Motwani Jadeja Foundation.