The Russia-India-China Troika

While India should pursue the RIC troika, it must also get back to normalizing India-US ties which have been assiduously cultivated over the past 25 years. Both the US and the Indian administrations are working overtime to get things back on an even keel, and that could well come about.

- AJAY SINGH

THE U.S. NUDGE There is a saying in world affairs, "Never waste a good crisis." The recent train-wreck of US-India relations has been one of the greatest crises Indian diplomacy has faced in decades. It is to our credit that we have used it both as a vindication of our own stand, and as a means to explore other options that lie ahead.

The harangue of Trump and his aides against India, and the arbitrary imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian goods, seems to be based more on personal pique for not being credited for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan—something that he hoped would bolster his claims for a much-coveted Nobel Peace Prize—than any economic or strategic considerations. The signals emanating from his administration have toned down and more and more voices are reiterating that the India-US ties remain "the defining partnership of the 21st century." Perhaps this crisis will tide over and even the tariffs could eventually be rolled back. (Maybe by the US judiciary itself which has declared them as exceeding the President's authority). But what would take more time to repair is the loss of trust that has now come about in India-US relations.

US actions have pushed India towards its traditional friend, Russia; and a traditional adversary, China, in an unlikely, but not entirely inconceivable troika between the three nations. The optics of Prime Minister Modi with President Putin and Xi Jinping in the SCO summit at Tianjin was there for world display. The triple handshake and the personal warmth were unmistakable. Much has also been made of Modi's drive with Putin in his limousine, and his 45-minute tete-a-tete on the sidelines. Much of it was for optics, but the underlying message was clear. India has demonstrated that it has choices besides the US and the West, and the choices that it makes can completely rebalance the world order.