{"id":75717,"date":"2022-10-12T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=75717"},"modified":"2022-10-12T10:57:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T23:57:19","slug":"the-us-india-partnership-is-too-important-to-lose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-us-india-partnership-is-too-important-to-lose\/","title":{"rendered":"The US\u2013India partnership is too important to lose"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The strategic partnership between the United States and India is pivotal to maintaining the balance of power in the vast Indo-Pacific region and counterbalancing China\u2019s hegemonic ambitions. The US is India\u2019s second-largest trading partner<\/a>, and deepening the ties between the two countries is one of the rare bipartisan foreign policies that exists in Washington today.<\/p>\n

The upcoming October 18\u201331 joint military exercise<\/a> known as Yudh Abhyas<\/em><\/a> (war practice), in a high-altitude area less than 100 kilometres from India\u2019s border with China, highlights the partnership\u2019s growing strategic importance. India holds more annual military exercises with the US than any other country<\/a>, as the two powers seek to improve their forces\u2019 interoperability<\/a>. As Admiral Michael M. Gilday, the US Navy\u2019s chief of naval operations, put it recently, India is a \u2018crucial partner<\/a>\u2019 in countering China\u2019s rise.<\/p>\n

But President Joe Biden\u2019s decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan and effectively surrender<\/a> the country to a Pakistan-reared terrorist militia, in addition to tensions related to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, have strained the relationship between the world\u2019s most powerful and most populous democracies.<\/p>\n

Like many other countries, including<\/a> US allies such as Israel and Turkey, India has taken a neutral stance<\/a> on the war in Ukraine. Much to the chagrin<\/a> of the US and Europe, the country has continued to purchase discounted oil from Russia, rebuffing the Biden administration\u2019s offer to replace Russian oil with US supplies. Instead, India has increased its imports<\/a> of Russian crude.<\/p>\n

At the heart of India\u2019s decision is fear of losing out to China. Since 2019, the US has used the sanctions on Iran\u2019s oil exports<\/a> to deprive India of cheaper Iranian oil, thereby turning it into the largest market<\/a> for US energy exporters. The main beneficiary of the sanctions is China, which has increased its purchases of Iranian oil<\/a> at a discount and developed a security partnership<\/a> with the Islamic republic without facing US reprisal.<\/p>\n

While the US has already surpassed Russia as India\u2019s largest weapons supplier<\/a>, the American defence sector views the war in Ukraine as a \u2018great opportunity<\/a>\u2019 for arms sales to India to \u2018surge\u2019. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has urged Indian officials<\/a> to avoid buying Russian equipment and purchase US-made weapons from now on.<\/p>\n

Yet Biden\u2019s overriding focus on punishing Russia could exacerbate India\u2019s security challenges, especially if the international efforts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin inadvertently empower an expansionist China. The US-led sanctions and Europe\u2019s shift away from Russian energy effectively put<\/a> Russia\u2014the world\u2019s most resource-rich country<\/a>\u2014in the pocket of the resource-hungry Chinese. Its alliance with Russia has allowed China to build an energy safety net through an increase in land-based imports, which, unlike seaborne deliveries, cannot be blockaded if Chinese President Xi Jinping decides to invade Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, America\u2019s recent US$450 million deal<\/a> to modernise Pakistan\u2019s fleet of F-16 fighter jets\u2014unveiled days after the US helped the country stave off an imminent debt default through an International Monetary Fund bailout<\/a>\u2014has evoked bitter memories of the US arming Pakistan against India and supporting the initial development<\/a> of the Pakistani nuclear-weapons program during the Cold War.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration\u2019s disingenuous claim that upgrading Pakistan\u2019s US-supplied F-16 fleet would advance counterterrorism<\/a> has prompted a sharp response from India. During a recent visit to Washington, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar publicly condemned the deal, saying that the American explanation \u2018is not fooling anyone<\/a>\u2019. In case of conflict, Pakistan would undoubtedly deploy the upgraded fighter jets against India.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, some observers have revived the old theory that US\u2013India ties fare better under Republican administrations. Bilateral relations thrived<\/a> during President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, which relied heavily on India in developing its Indo-Pacific strategy. Trump instituted new US policies on China and Pakistan, whose increasingly close partnership has raised the prospect of India fighting a two-front war. In a major shift<\/a>, Trump ended the 45-year US policy of aiding China\u2019s rise<\/a>. He also cut off security aid to Pakistan for not severing its ties with terrorist groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Biden, on the other hand, has resumed America\u2019s coddling of Pakistan<\/a>, made outreach to Beijing a high priority<\/a> and said nothing<\/a> about China\u2019s encroachments on Indian territory in the Himalayas. But by locking horns<\/a> with China in a 30-month military standoff, India has openly challenged Chinese power in a way no other world power has done in this century.<\/p>\n

Nothing better illustrates Biden\u2019s neglect of the relationship with India than the fact that, since he took office, there has been no US ambassador in New Delhi<\/a>. Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, caused an uproar during a visit to the Pakistani-held part of Kashmir, which he called by its Pakistani name<\/a>\u2014\u2018Azad [Liberated] Jammu and Kashmir\u2019\u2014instead of \u2018Pakistan-administered Kashmir,\u2019 as the United Nations calls it.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration has also been trying to leverage human-rights issues against India. In April, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken alleged a \u2018rise in human-rights abuses<\/a>\u2019 in the country, prompting Jaishankar to counter that India is similarly concerned<\/a> about the state of human rights in the US. Likewise, prominent members of the US Democratic Party can barely conceal their hostility<\/a> to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his brand of Hindu nationalism.<\/p>\n

Given that the US and India are both bitterly polarised democracies, officials should avoid statements that could inflame domestic tensions. If the US wishes to shift strategic focus<\/a> to the Indo-Pacific, it must improve relations with its most important strategic ally in Asia. To that end, Biden must not squander the historic opportunity to forge a \u2018soft\u2019 alliance<\/a> with India. If the US is to prevail in its escalating rivalry with China and Russia and avoid strategic overreach<\/a>, it needs India more than ever. But without mutual respect, the bilateral partnership is doomed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The strategic partnership between the United States and India is pivotal to maintaining the balance of power in the vast Indo-Pacific region and counterbalancing China\u2019s hegemonic ambitions. The US is India\u2019s second-largest trading partner, and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":75719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69,2825,251,163,2070],"class_list":["post-75717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-india","tag-joe-biden","tag-pakistan","tag-russia","tag-us-foreign-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe US\u2013India partnership is too important to lose | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-us-india-partnership-is-too-important-to-lose\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The US\u2013India partnership is too important to lose | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The strategic partnership between the United States and India is pivotal to maintaining the balance of power in the vast Indo-Pacific region and counterbalancing China\u2019s hegemonic ambitions. 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