His ascendancy to power has not been welcomed by the global community. Many believe that it is difficult for America to make progress under the leadership of a hard-liner, like Donald Trump. After winning the election, leaders usually get an opportunity to enjoy the ‘honeymoon period’ at the beginning of their tenure. But, President Trump didn’t get that opportunity. Since becoming the president, he has faced criticism mainly because of his ‘image’. The world has considered many of the decisions he has taken as suspiciously motivated. Despite all this, the Trump victory in the US Presidential Election has so far been positive for India.
It’s not that Trump’s victory in the election helped America strengthen ties with India. The Indo-US ties had taken a new turn during Bill Clinton’s tenure as president. Later, George W Bush and Barack Obama took various steps to bolster bilateral co-operation in different sectors. For experts, it was really difficult to predict how President Trump would interact with India and the difficulty stemmed from the very person and character of Trump himself. However, the Indo-US relations have made great progress under his leadership. In many cases, the White House has shown more sincerity than ever before.

Modi & Trump

Before leaving the White House, President Obama finalised India’s designation as a “major defence partner” of the US. The former president also strengthened trade ties with India. In the last 10 months, President Trump has overturned hundreds of Obama administration’s policies, except the ‘India policy’. On the contrary, the Trump administration has maintained the continuity of the policy towards the South Asian nation. The American president has not only praised New Delhi’s global role, but also encouraged the US companies to invest more in India.
Although the Indo-US relations have reached a new level, India’s relations with neighbouring China have deteriorated in recent times. For long, New Delhi has been trying hard to maintain a balance in Sino-Indian ties. The Narendra Modi government has also received a positive response from Beijing. However, the Indian intelligence agencies recently informed the Modi government that China plans to trigger a fresh tension along the Sino-Indian borders in early 2018.

Chinese President Xi Jinping

In such a situation, the equation between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump has become very relevant, as well as important. India should keep trying to normalise ties with China, despite the fact that the Asian giant will take all the necessary steps to increase its influence in the region. So, India will have to fight a psychological battle with China to maintain the balance and the outcome of the battle will partially depend on New Delhi-Washington proximity or Modi-Trump friendship. Prime Minister Modi should be very careful while playing the balancing game. The Indian PM knows that apart from monitoring China’s moves closely, he will have to take the Indo-US ties to a different direction because New Delhi needs Washington’s help in containing Beijing’s adventurism. Modi, the seasoned politician, also knows that the future will be more volatile. Still, the Indian premier can become a great leader and a statesman, if he tackles the situation well. Best of luck, Mr Prime Minister!

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das