The Emerging Strategic Bilateralism between Washington and New Delhi: An Overview of the Trump Era

Research Article

Abstract

Strategic bilateralism between Washington and New Delhi has become a permanent feature of American South Asian policy which reached its zenith under the Trump administration. The two-sided strategic interaction under the Trump-Modi diplomacy witnessed an unprecedented growth of Indo-US bilateralism. Both countries not only multiplied the general areas of bilateral collaboration in the fields of security and defense, but the government authorities under Trump and Modi administrations also decided to uphold each other against common security threats. In this way, an alliance for countering China‟s economic rise and Beijing‟s growing trade relations with Islamabad has resulted in the Indo-US strategic partnership parallel to the Sino-Pak economic alliance. Beyond South Asia, the strategically collaborative bilateralism between the US and India became an undeniable feature of global power politics. The American pursuit of keeping India as a close strategic partner has been considered a significant move of the Trump administration in Asian power politics. This article thus studies Indo-US bilateral ties and their growth under the Trump regime.