Stronger India-US ties key to counter China, says leading American expert

“On tech policy, building close ties between the US, India, and friendly countries like Israel and Japan offers a path to countering the Chinese push for leadership in a strategic domain. On regional issues, American and Indian interests are broadly aligned. Chinese efforts to pull countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives and Sri Lanka into its orbit threaten both India and the US,” he elaborated. Mead argued that the current bonhomie between the Trump administration and Pakistan isn’t likely to “attract much long-term love from Mr Trump” as Islamabad has a “troubling record” on nuclear proliferation and terrorism.

“In the Cold War, America valued Pakistan as an ally against the Soviet Union. But in the emerging cold war with China, Pakistan has chosen Beijing. It has a troubling record of supporting illegal nuclear proliferation, and its hands are far from clean when it comes to supporting terrorism,” he added. In early October, Mead led a US delegation to India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Ministers like Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

After meeting with the delegation, Prime Minister Modi posted on X. “Glad to interact with a US delegation of thinkers and business leaders led by Mr Walter Russell Mead. Value their contribution in strengthening India-US ties and advancing our partnership for global peace, progress and prosperity.” Reflecting on his recent visit, Mead wrote that most Indians hope the new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor’s mission will be a "success."

“In meetings with Indian government, opposition and business leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on down, your Global View columnist heard a consistent message. India’s political and business leaders still want to work with the US,” he said. In the last few weeks, the India-US relationship has stabilised after months of sustained tensions. Trade talks between the two sides are underway to finalise the first tranche of an agreement soon.

Mead also asserted that a failure to resolve the pending issues in India-US ties would be an “indelible blot” on the Trump presidency. “An improved US-India relationship would be one of the president’s most important accomplishments. Failure would be an indelible blot on his record and vastly complicate life for his successors. Let’s all hope Mr Trump finds a way,” he signed off.