US, Them And We In Between

India and the US are mired in disputes economic and strategic. The cloud will pass, for each draws much from close ties.

- Pranay Sharma

FEW countries match the space the United States occupies in the political discourse of other nations. Irrespective of whether its domineering presence and penchant for interference in others’ sovereign policies is suffered or loat­ hed, no country can ignore the US. As a Chinese commentator aptly puts, irrespective of one’s geographical position, America is everybody’s neighbour.

It’s a pertinent observation in the present context, when a debate is on in the Indian foreign policy establishment on the future trajectory of India-US ties.

As policy planners search for answers on how to deal with an America exceedingly becoming abrasive under the Trump presidency, many are asking if it is time for India to find reasons to justify why it needs constructive and cordial relations with the US.

“The US under President Trump has become a very difficult and unpredictable interlocutor. Almost mercurial,” opines Commodore (retd) C. Uday Bhaskar, director, Society for Policy Studies in New Delhi. He points out that traditional US allies like Germany, Japan and South Korea have all suffered similarly since Trump came to power. “In almost all its bilateral ties, the US brings a huge index of asymmetry in its favour and seeks a basketball-like end to negotiations—relatively short with defined objectives and a definitive outcome. This is not in the Indian DNA,” he adds.

A recent meeting between Donald Trump and Narendra Modi at the G-20 Summit in Osaka might have halted the rising India-US tensions building up in the past few years. The question is how long it would last before Trump’s next round of diatribe against India is aired publicly through a set of tweets.