No longer seeing eye to eye?- India-US relation

No longer seeing eye to eye?- India-US relation

Article

1. Suhasini Haider, an foriegn policy expert, analyses India-US relation in the context of recent chnaging dynamics of India’s foreign policy

Important Analysis:

1. Change in vision and relation of India and US is evident in the recent foreign policy speeches of PM Modi and U.S Defence secretary James Mattis at the Shangri-la Dialogue.
2. Firstly, India and the U.S holds difference in opinion about Indo-Pacific region.
   • According to PM Modi, Indo-Pacific region is not a strategic region but a free and inclusive natural geographic region.
   • Mattis refers Indo-Pacific region as its priority in its security strategy. This is evident in renaming of Pacific Command to Indo-Pacific command.
3. Secondly, India PM Modi mentions India’s good ties with US, Russia and China. While Mr Mattis referred to U.S National Defenfence strategy, which puts China and Russia as revisionist powers.
   • Previously, India had the intention to counter China’s intervention in India’s neighborhood namely the post-Doklam.
   • After a year when issues namely Doklam, BRI, have resolved, India holds a flexible foreign policy for China.
4. Thirdly, another bigger challenge for the two countries is U.S. law called Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
   • India is dependent on defence hardware from Russia and energy from Iran.
   • If implemented, the U.S sanctions will have adverse affect on India.
5. Fourthly, India and U.S. has been facing trade disputes. One of the major is the Harley Davidson motor cycle case.
   • S wants India to to scrap its 75-100% tariffs on Harley Davidson because U.S imposes 0% tariffs on the imports of Indian Royal Enfield motorcycles.
   • According to U.S, if India scrapes its rate of tariff then it would see major benefits in other areas of commerce.
6. Fifthly,PM Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in a series of formal and informal summits. But the  2+2 meeting between Defence and Foreign Minsters of India and U.S is delayed for two year and finally scheduled for July 6, 2018.