Abstract:

India and the USA might ally with limitless potential. The countries are big on democratic rights and values which are the pillars of a free society. In the current world order, both countries have put the past behind them and are working together though not at a great speed for preserving the current rulesbased order under the Dragon’s shadow. With India's potential to be a major military power and advantageous geographic location, the United States can keep China's aspirations in check in the modern world. India also gains from this alliance as it gets closer to the advanced economies of the West and can take advantage of the advanced technologies that come with that proximity. India's strategic autonomy may be preserved while the USA and India's relationship is strengthened from partnership to alliance.

Keywords: India, United States, Alliance, Partnership, Kritrima, Strategic Autonomy.

Introduction

Many leaders often claim that India and the United States are ideal allies. There is a tale that President Bush once interrupted then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she leaned over to ask the Indian PM when India would be placing an order for reactors from Westinghouse since the two were attending a small private dinner. President Bush responded by telling her that the matter was much more important than reactor sales [1]. Although there has been advancement in US-Indian relations since the 2005 nuclear deal, the relationship has not advanced as much as it could. As Dr. S. Jaishankar puts it "The era after the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2005 showed how excessive caution lost the chance to make more than incremental gains" [2]. It is in the interest of both India and the USA to put this partnership on a fast track and see it become more important than the relations the USA has with its 'major nonNATO allies' as they say this can be the defining partnership of the 21st Century. According to Dr. Shashi Tharoor's book [3], Ashley Tellis believes that the partnership benefits both sides and the present international order. Tellis says, citing Tharoor, "The United States own geopolitical vision of the future world order is enhanced by a successful India. Likewise, Tellis proposes that, in Tharoor's words, "India's vital interest is necessarily consistent with aide[ing] the preservation of the American-led global order in contrast to, say, acquiescing to the rise of a Chinese alternative [4]. India and the USA have a thing in common which all its leaders love to talk about that is democracy. One is the largest and the other is the oldest. If we look at the current world order then logic should dictate that India and the United States should have been aligned more closely right now than they are. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once proclaimed that India and the United States are natural allies but such a call of Vajpayee has often been pointed out as an art rather than a call for an alliance as it occurred against the backdrop of India's nuclear test [5].

India- United States Relations amidst Dragon’s Shadow

The US-Indian relationship has been steadily improving. India was granted a unique position in 2016 when the United States of America named it a "major defense partner." The United Arab Emirates will follow India in 2024. When we explore the India-US partnership and pitch it to go beyond the major non-NATO ally status it is important to define both the terms that is 'Alliance' and 'Partnership'. According to the US Department of Defence website, "Alliances are formal agreements between two or more nations. In national defense, they are promises that each nation will support the other, particularly during war" and "Partnerships are less formal than alliances. They help build relationships between nations or organizations like militaries. Like alliances, they benefit the members of the partnership, but they Can be short-term and don't involve a treaty" [6]. As the world is becoming increasingly multipolar, the era of great power competition calls for great power alliances. The United States' adversarial relationship in Asia and Eurasia calls for greater friendship from India. Therefore, it is prudent to seek a great power partnership.

India pursues its strategic autonomy in its foreign policy, stating that the country will not dictate the terms of any hegemons or external actors maintaining its bargaining power in international politics. Speaking in the Indian Parliament in March 1951, Pundit Nehru emphasized that "aligning ourselves with any one power, you surrender your opinion, give up the policy you would nominally pursue because somebody else wants you to pursue another policy". Similarly, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while defending the civilian-nuclear deal in Washington before parliament in 2008 clearly stated that India’s strategic autonomy will never be compromised. In the backdrop of an assertive China with its economy 2.5 times more than India’s, has been throwing its weight around Asia more forcefully. This has naturally been a cause of concern for both the USA which one can say is the hegemonic power of the world and India which is aspiring to be a dominant regional player. For India a war on the two fronts seems problematic, such possibilities have evolved over the period because of China and Pakistan's stronger ties. As India shares long borders with the China-Pakistan axis, things can go murky when possibilities like war appear in the region. India in the past would have been reluctant to choose the side but in the contemporary period when China's repeated encroachment in India's territory across the disputed Himalaya, and its killing of 20 Indian soldiers in June 2020 demanded a stern measure [7]. China shared India's concern of a two-front war, with its perception originating from both the east (along the Pacific front) and the southwest (along the Himalayan front). Such a perception was lessened in the 1970s as closer ties between the United States and China developed in response to the growing differences between the United States and India. However, in recent years, the United States and China's fictitious relations and the strengthening of their relationship with India have caused the threat of China's two fronts to resurface. After their partnerships diversified, China and India established friendly ties with their adversaries from the Cold War—Russia and the United States, respectively.

The relationship between India and Russia is considered special by academicians, politicians, scholars, and policymakers from both sides. Although changing geopolitics has led Russia's relationship with India to a different course. India has not received the same degree of top-level attention as China despite Russian crude oil making up about 36 percent of India's total imports, accounting for around 232. 31 million tonnes or 1.70 billion barrels in 2023-24 [8]. Also, Russia which remains a major supplier of weapons to India, facing competition in the Indian market because of India's desire to diversify its supply. As India's position on Russia stems from material interest and is guided by the principles of autonomous foreign policy and the freedom to choose its friends [9]. Similarly, as India picked relations with the U.S., Russia's ties with China also have shown significant changes. President Putin described a "no limit" friendship with China. Moreover, the objective of the Russian President aligns with that of the Chinese President with its long border and adversarial relationship with the West [10]. It is difficult to predict Russia's position, much less how it would react to the tensions between China and India. Russia will assist its economic ally China, or it will serve as a counterbalance to its long-time friend India. India needs someone she can rely on in this kind of situation.

An Ally with Strategic Autonomy

Scholars, policymakers, and academicians have diverse opinions regarding India being an ally of the United States. Those who favor an alliance between the U.S and India argue that the two countries' interests converge in the security of the Indo-Pacific, as the United States is looking for a strategic partner to contain China's current hegemonic ambition, India will become a vital ally that can decisively shift the balance of power towards the U.S and its allies [11]. The argument also suggests that aligning with the United States will help India add more meaning and purpose to its relations with NATO and G7 countries, due to America’s influential position in these organizations. They further argue that India's strategic autonomy obsession has led to the complete neglect of crucial issues that are likely to determine whether the two countries would ally or not. Whereas the sceptics point out that South Korea is an American ally its citizens spend sleepless nights whenever tensions with North Korea escalate.

The realist Kautilya, who argues that friendship is based solely on the protection of wealth and life aspects, gave the concept of Kritrima. However, Kautilya preferred an ally who is traditional, enduring, disciplined, and enthusiastic and from whom there is little chance of opposition or rebellion. Since India has a strategic foreign policy, it will not do so, but what it can do is invite the United States to the table and offer the proposal of Kritrima. That might be seen as a strategically independent ally. Furthermore, the definition of an ally goes beyond simply providing security;

an ally also has a responsibility to correct a friend when they are mistaken, suggest ways to resolve the matter, and refuse to act mindlessly while under duress. India and the US can adopt a similar approach, whereby they cooperate and make amends for a brighter future rather than openly threatening one another with penalties and cut-offs.

Conclusion

Though the world had warmly welcomed China's peaceful ascent, it has now grown tired of the Dragon's shadow due to China's assertiveness on South China Sea territorial disputes and its persistent incursion into India's territory across the contested Himalayas. What the USA refers to as the pivot towards IndoPacific strategy has its roots in China's imperial ambitions. Under the Dragon's shadow, the relationship between the two democracies has been moving closer though at a slow pace. India is now a major defense partner of the USA and is enjoying the benefits that come from such a partnership but now with the dynamic nature of world affairs, the relationship needs to transform from partnership to alliance with both countries benefitting with closer ties. It is now common knowledge that the Indian-American relationship enjoys bipartisan support in both countries. The center of the world is shifting towards Asia and India, and going forward will be playing a major role in how the future is shaped. The United States and India would do well both from economic and strategic perspectives to upgrade the relationship and work with each other more closely.

Endnotes:

1. Menon, S. (2016). Choices Inside the Makings of India Foreign Policy. Penguin Random House India.

2. Jaishankar, S. (2020). The Art of Disruption. In S. Jaishankar, The India Way Strategies for an Uncertain World (p. 26). Noida: Harper Collins.

3. Tharoor, S. (2013). Red, White, Blue, and Saffron. In S. Tharoor, Pax Indica (p. 216). Gurgaon: Penguin Random House India.

4. Tharoor, S. (2013). Red, White, Blue, and Saffron. In S. Tharoor, Pax Indica (p. 217). Gurgaon: Penguin Random House India.

5. Ayres, A. (2023, June 21). India Is Not a U.S. Ally—And Has Never Wanted to Be. Time. https://time.com/6288459/india-ally-us-modi-biden-visit/

6. Roche, E. (2016, December 9). What it means for India to be the 'major defense partner' of the US. Retrieved from Mint: https://www.livemint.com/Politics/eCHMGqDy5bl2MpFrtgRd4H/India-gets-unique-status-ofmajor-defence-partner-of-US.html

7. Tharoor, S. (2023, July 5). The US and India’s Non-Aligned Alliance. Project Syndicate. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/us-indiarelations-remarkable-transformation-by-shashi-tharoor-2023-07

8. Ranjan, A. (2024, August 22). India picks its friends as it treads between Russia and the West. East Asia Forum. Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/08/22/indiapicks-its-friends-as-it-treads-between-russia-and-the-west/

9. Ranjan, A. (2024, August 22). India picks its friends as it treads between Russia and the West. East Asia Forum. Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/08/22/indiapicks-its-friends-as-it-treads-between-russia-and-the-west/

10. Menon, R., & Rumer, E. (2022, September 20). Russia and India: A New Chapter. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved July 6, 2024, from https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2022/09/russia-and-india-a-new-chapter?lang=en

11. S. K. (2019, August 20). Will India Ally with America? IDSA. https://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/will-india-ally-with-america-skalyanaraman-200819