CUTS Washington Monthly Brief
#29, August 2020
Advancing Indo-U.S. relations in this age of aspirations
 
India’s relationship with the United States has been on an upward trajectory from the last two and a half decades. The U.S. administrations from President Bill Clinton to President Donald Trump have all aspired to work with India to create a favourable environment for India’s resounding growth trajectory. There was a bipartisan support always.

Since 1950 until before the economic liberalisation in 1991, the Indian economy was doubling every twenty years. After that, it was doubling every ten years on average till 2019.  The country aspires to be a US$5tn economy by 2025 and expectedly US$10tn by 2030. Despite being unfathomable, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 induced downsides, the growing foundational linkages of friendship between the two countries can be instrumental in shaping that.

In fact, if mutual tensions over India’s nuclear tests around the turn of the Century can within a decade transform into a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation pact, it could be taken more as a possibility. Such a spirit and tenacity can actually underpin the ability of the next U.S. administration to take bilateral relations to exceptional heights.

In order to realise this aspiration, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the U.S. President Donald Trump have together created an incredible scale for mutual cooperation on a range of bilateral and global issues. This is further emboldened with a strengthened bipartisan consensus in the U.S. in favour of an even stronger bilateral relationship. That is clearly visible in the U.S. presidential election campaigns.

For example, the democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, has been a fervent supporter of Indo-U.S. civil nuclear cooperation, among others. His vice presidential companion Kamala Harris talks about and relate to her Indian heritage, quite fondly.

Such a level of deepened efforts and enhanced understanding will be a guiding framework for the Indo-U.S. relations for the next U.S. administration. Not only will that strengthen the ongoing but also expand near future and post-pandemic opportunities for businesses and people in both countries. 

The avenues for deepening mutual partnerships include defence and aerospace, energy, agricultural technology and services, healthcare, among others. Scope for embracing cutting edge technologies and developing underlying infrastructure remains scalable.  India’s overall thrust for the Champion Sectors  creates a greater scope for the U.S. capital and technology in the country.

This way the two countries can not only justify bilateral but also can realign global supply chains much more strategically while supporting each other and taking forward their shared values and vision.  
                                        
Pradeep S. Mehta
Editor

P.S. Does China’s unprovoked test firing of missiles in the disputed South China Sea signal the beginning of a military escalation in the Indo-Pacific region? 


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