From the vantage point of a Trump administration, India’s ability to maintain cordial relations with a power actively undermining Western security is less a diplomatic feat than a strategic problem. It raises a fundamental question: Can India still be America’s indispensable Indo-Pacific pillar when it signals, through action and optics, that Western priorities are secondary?
For two decades, US policy toward India was guided by a blend of pragmatism and optimism. Washington sought a rising India – economically dynamic, militarily capable and strategically positioned to counterbalance China. India’s enduring ties with Russia, long treated as “legacy” issues, were tolerated because the benefits of a cooperative New Delhi appeared to outweigh the costs.
