Introduction

The India-US relationship is an interesting example of perpetual caution, hope and disappointment mixed with attempts at future cooperation. Since the end of the Cold War era, the relationship has evolved significantly, becoming a more robust and multidimensional strategic partnership from a distant and hostile relationship. India and the US, as the World’s biggest and oldest democracies today, understand how critical it is for them to work together to address both bilateral and global issues.

The cooperation again gained momentum ostensibly after the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to the US in September 2024 for a QUAD summit. There was a feeling of hope amongst the leaders of both countries but since then numerous irritants have cropped up. National Security Communications Advisor Admiral John Kirby has remarked that the relationship is “strong and getting stronger”. Moreover, the US President Biden characterised India as one of the key nations transforming the world since it can assist with solving all sorts of issues, including the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and wars, stressing that the level of US-India ties is “stronger, closer and more dynamic than at any time in history.” Projects such as Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) and other investments have elevated India’s leadership globally. In contrast, for the US, India is a key player in the Indo-Pacific that the US hopes to counterbalance against China.

An inflection point in this ambivalent relationship was the signing of the historic accord, the 2008 US-India Civil Nuclear Deal, representing mutual trust and a shared willingness to collaborate more closely. However, it did not yield any actual results. India-US Defense ties have increased significantly since then, and the United States now counts India as one of its main defence partners. Also, since then US has emerged as an important seller of advanced military hardware to India. One of the several instances of how deep this collaboration has grown is the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for geospatial intelligence, signed in 2020.

Beyond Defence, both nations' Scientific and Economic cooperation have advanced significantly. With bilateral trade totalling $191 billion in 2022, the United States is among India's biggest trading partners. Giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft have invested significantly in India's digital infrastructure, contributing significantly to the country's technological boom. Complementing this, Indian IT workers have played a significant role in Silicon Valley's rise, strengthening bilateral relations while also boosting the US economy.

It goes beyond trade and technology alone. The Indian diaspora in the United States has grown significantly in terms of culture and political influence. The Indian American community, which numbers over 4 million, is vital to the process of forging stronger ties between the two nations. These connections are becoming deeper every day, as seen by the impact Indian culture has had on American society and the meteoric rise of several Indian Americans in prominent political positions in both political parties.

This evolution has been driven by their shared beliefs, aspirations, and interests. However, like any significant relationship, it has its conflicts and complications. Beneath the surface of this flourishing partnership, several key issues have the potential to create tension.

What ails the Indo-US relationship?

The United States and India both have independent strategic visions that unite them on many fronts but also divide them because of differing priorities and different geographies. The India-US relationship has come a long way, but several underlying problems still cause tension. These difficulties, ranging from geopolitical to economic disputes, periodically strain the partnership and remind us that no relationship is without its hurdles.

The US openly violated India’s exclusive economic zone with its FONOPS without notification in advance. During the second wave of the COVID pandemic, when thousands of Indians died, the US invoked the Defence Production Act (DPA) and prevented the export of raw constituents for the manufacture of the COVID vaccine in India.

American Case of Clientitis:

The rent-seeking Islamic Republic of Pakistan remains the soft underbelly of the US. The US has continued to support Pakistan in its nefarious capacity-building against India by ostensibly giving a sustenance package of more than $450 million for upgrading Pakistan’s F-16 fighter planes. The US has brazenly engineered a military coup in Bangladesh toppling the democratically elected PM Sheikh Hasina. The installation of a US puppet Mohammad Yunus as head of the interim government, willful denial of human rights violations and a drip genocide of Bangladeshi Hindus is a grave cause of concern for India.

The Russia-China Dilemma: Old Ties and Strategic Tensions

India's close defence ties with Russia and its cautious stance on China complicate its relationship with the US. While India is a major defence partner with Russia and a major importer of arms, including the S400 missile defence system, the US is not comfortable with such transactions within the framework of Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions (CAATSA) Act. India has remained adamant about such threats, stating issues of territorial integrity with China and Pakistan as the foremost reasons for their stand. The US, with an interest in retaining India as a strategic ally in the Indo-Pacific region, has found itself on a very thin line.

Moreover, India maintained a neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine War while keeping its strategic autonomy and domestic interests in paramount focus. This did irk the West and the US, but despite that, India continued to maintain its independent foreign policy, meticulously woven to navigate through global chaos while keeping the interests of its citizens and its internal harmony intact. India also abstained from voting in the United Nations on matters relating to the Russia-Ukraine war, and this further irked the US, beyond doubt. India was castigated for violating the unilateral financial sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on Russia.

While both the US and India are concerned about China’s rising influence in the region, especially through its debt-trap diplomacy, their approaches differ. The US takes a more aggressive stance, pushing alliances like the Quad to counter China's influence, while India adopts a cautious approach due to its trade ties with China and the problematic neighbourhood. India has, however, in the recent past pushed for the Make-In-India initiative and tried to minimise imports in certain categories in terms of trade with China.

Though India supports the Quad, it resists fully militarising the alliance, favouring dialogue and diplomacy. This creates friction, with the Us urging a tougher stance, while India seeks to guard its autonomy in its foreign policy, balancing security concerns with economic realities. These differences complicate joint efforts, especially in the Indo-Pacific region which in the recent past has been marked with geopolitical issues of significant magnitude.

Internal Bureaucratic Tensions

Though top leaders of both democracies advocate deeper and closer ties, internal bureaucratic tensions often create a partial rupture causing an inevitable hurdle. Certain agencies in the West have vehemently lobbied in a manner that several Indian strategists and thinkers see as an attempt to interfere with domestic politics in India, this raises concerns from a strategic point of view.

Certain bureaucrats in the US Department of State and intelligence agencies still harbour the Cold War mentality and are reflexively anti-India. There are differences in understanding, perception and definition of violent extremism between both countries. Similarly, there are nuances in relative understanding of philosophical notions of freedom of speech and inciting unrest are the sore points between the two countries. The recent US stand on the Canadian Sikh terrorist Nijjar case and its stand on Sikh American terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has hurt Indian interests beyond doubt. Extra-territorial application of US laws in foreign countries is a cause of concern not just for India but also for other countries.

Trade Disagreements

Trade has been a persistent sore point between India and the US, even with the growing economic relations between the two countries. Both countries practice healthy bilateral trade but have had battles over tariffs and market access. The US has lashed out at India for its monopoly of excessive taxes on imported goods like agricultural produce, medical gadgets and vehicles. Such frustrations are evidenced by the fact that former US president Donald Trump went out of his way to refer to India as the ‘tariff king’. His administration had labelled India as a currency manipulator and had put limits on the number of H1B visas for India.

On the other hand, even India has her grievances. The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program gave freedom from tariffs for a few categories of exports to select countries; India was removed from the GSP Program in 2019 during Trump's presidency. This trade conflict raises concerns in both countries related to the forced economic doctrines on domestic markets and the aspiration for deepening trade relations between them.

Concerns Related to Immigration and H1B Visas

The issue of immigration has always been one of the most sensitive aspects in India-US relations, especially in the context of the H1B visa program which allows and enables American businesses to bring in skilled foreign employees in areas such as Information Technology (IT).

Indians are among the largest participants in such programs, with many H-1B visas each year going to Indian professionals. However, there has been further confusion and uncertainty about the viability of the H-1B program in the recent past. Both the Trump and Biden administrations took action to cut down on issuing these visas and hiked the processing in an attempt to ostensibly protect the American labour force while harming India’s export of services.

Selective Concerns About Human Rights

The US establishment has weaponised and politicised the issue of human rights in other countries selectively without doing self-introspection. Instruments of the State Department like USCIRF and International Ambassador for Religious Freedom are tools of the State Department that do not review human rights violations within the US. Human rights concern in India-US relations remains a rather difficult issue.

In recent years, US lawmakers and human rights activists have expressed concern over some of India’s internal policies, including its press and religious freedom and treatment of minorities. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has also faced backlash in the US. Many of these remarks are often lobby-driven. Simultaneously, the US continues to turn a blind eye towards persecution and ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of the world.

India perceives such motivated criticisms as assumption-driven, half-baked which undermines national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Top Indian officials seek to emphasise that the measures they undertake are for national security measures and advancing national stability along with internal harmony. The Government of India has also noted that every country including the United States has domestic problems and that there is no single societal or political bracket that would fit all geopolitical situations.

Navigating the Future

Despite these roadblocks, the need for collaboration remains paramount. The US and India need each other to navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing global landscape. Joint initiatives and dialogues aimed at addressing these challenges can pave the way for a more resilient partnership. High-level talks, like the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, continue to serve as important platforms for addressing these issues. Moreover, India, as the leader of the Global South has always believed in the age-old saying - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, glimpses of which are also reflected in its approach to foreign policy.

 With the US having a new President-elect Mr. Trump set to take over the administration on January 20^th 2024, there is hope for smoother bilateral ties. Both countries are working to navigate their differences, recognising that while disagreements exist, their long-term strategic goals are aligned. As this relationship continues to evolve, managing these areas of friction while deepening cooperation will be the key to ensuring that the partnership remains on a positive trajectory. That would be a real win-win-win situation for India, the US and the rest of the democratic world.