US must understand, a rising India is not a threat to Washington. It is an asset

The belief that the US can pressure India into unconditional alignment is short-sighted and self-defeating

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Former cabinet minister, High Commissioner to India, and founder of the Pathfinder Foundation Milinda Moragoda has questioned the US actions vis a vis India, in an article carried in The Indian Express, in its August 19th edition.

With US-India relations entering a more fragile phase, Washington's pressure-first approach risks alienating a partner whose rise could be one of America’s greatest strategic assets in the 21st century. George Washington, in his farewell address of 1796, urged Americans to “observe good faith and justice toward all nations” and to “cultivate peace and harmony with all.” More than two centuries later, those words resonate in a very different but equally critical context.

For years, the US-India relationship has been described as a “defining partnership of the 21st century” —a rare convergence of two large democracies, diverse in their societies but united in their commitment to pluralism, innovation, and open markets. Yet in recent years, there has been a troubling shift in tone. Trust, once the hallmark of this partnership, is being replaced by suspicion.