India's Measured Response Intended to Defuse Tensions With the U.S.

Overall, the India-US relationship has been proceeding apace, including in matters of defense and space, and an obsessive focus on intemperate social media posts would lead to a conclusion different from what is going on.

- M.D. NALAPAT

The term "ally" has been interpreted by successive US policymakers as denoting countries that follow the lead given by the once sole superpower. China was given a unique status from the time of President Nixon in the 1970s, while Cold War 1.0 with the Soviet Union was raging. Under Mao and his successors, Beijing followed its own instincts, which ran parallel to Washington's policy where the Soviet Union was concerned, but diverged substantially with several other desiderata of US policymakers. China was recognized by the US as sui generis, and given the latitude it wanted in other matters.

India is sui generis where Cold War 2.0 between principally the United States and China is concerned, just as China was sui generis during Cold War 1.0 between principally the US and the Soviet Union. A democracy of 1.4 billion people merits as much latitude during Cold War 2.0 as China was given during Cold War 1.0. Otherwise, the US would be strengthening the hand of its adversary, China.

A recent example of China seeking to limit the reach and influence of India was during the first phase of Operation Sindoor, before a pause in hostilities took place. Pakistan, the perpetrator of the Pahalgam terror attack, was given full support from China. Hence, it is clear to the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that China and not any other country is the adversary. Once again, it bears repetition that in the existential clash of competing and divergent ideologies and systems that Cold War 2.0 exemplifies, India is an indispensable partner and merits the needs to be given the same latitude and respect that China enjoyed during Cold War 1.0.

Indeed, the PRC enjoyed such latitude long after Cold War 1.0 ended in the meltdown of the Soviet Union. Indeed, much beyond that, until it became clear less than two decades ago that Beijing was taking an adversarial position in almost every situation where the interests of Washington were concerned.