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Is 2023 transformational for US-India relations?
Apart from the success of the Modi visit, there are other reasons to believe that conditions are propitious for 2023 being considered the transformational year in US-India relations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden having talks with top CEOs from India and the US in the East Room of the White House on June 23 /
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2023 visit to Washington has engendered euphoria in many supporters of the US-India relationship. In part, this feeling is justified.
The Biden Administration, the Congress, and India made every effort to ensure the visit demonstrated a strong and growing partnership. From the reception on the front lawn of the White House, to the Biden-Modi meetings, the Modi address to Congress, and a formal State dinner, the message was the same – India and the US are great nations with the highest respect for each other.
The Joint Statement issued by the two sides is breathtaking in its scope and ambition. From technology and military cooperation to health, education and global growth little is left out in an attempt to portray the document as representing “the most expansive and comprehensive vision for progress in the history of our bilateral relationship.”
Although the Joint Statement is largely a recitation of ongoing interactions, there are a few items marking substantive progress. Most of these are on the defense side and include the memorandum of understanding between General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the manufacture of GE F-414 jet engines in India. Apart from the success of the Modi visit, there are other reasons to believe that conditions are propitious for 2023 being considered the transformational year in US-India relations.
On the US side, the Trump administration’s pullback from international engagement under the rubric of “America first” has been reversed in favor of making common cause with other democracies, among which India is the largest and one of the most prominent.
The Biden administration has ended the transactional approach to India in favor of building a relationship. No longer are US-India negotiations governed by “the art of the deal” in which a quid pro quo is demanded for every concession or transfer of value. There is a greater appreciation of what India brings to the table going forward as a partner both economically and strategically.
India too finds itself in a position to participate as a strong and equal partner in the US-India relationship. India no longer needs to look backward to the fears and insecurities engendered by 200 years of national humiliation, namely its British colonial past. In 2023, India is the head of the G-20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It has convened the Global South and is a valued member of the US-Japan-Australia-India Quad. Its stance against Chinese expansionism makes it recognized as a key to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
India is the world’s fastest growing major economy with its largest population. Yet, it must be remembered that there have been other visits that caused great excitement and optimism, if not downright euphoria. The visit of President Clinton to India in 2000 had Indian parliamentarians clamoring over their desks to shake his hand. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to Washington in 2005 the civil nuclear deal was signed. President Obama as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade was a supposed “game changer.” At “Howdy Modi” in 2019 President Trump and Prime Minister Modi walked together before cheering thousands.
The expectations of these events were not always fulfilled. There are at least three factors that can, in future years, keep 2023 from being considered transformational to US-India relations: (1) hubris, the view that each country is so great on its own that it doesn’t need the other; (2) international armed conflict, the exposure of fundamental differences between the US and India on strategic matters; and (3) the dissipation of democratic values in either or both the US and India, values that are the bedrock of the relationship.
Thus, great encouragement can be taken from the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United States in 2023, but there is still work to be done in making the partnership between the US and India as strong as it should be.
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