An opportune time

The India-United States relationship has seen a steady increase in strategic depth and warmth in the last few years. The defence co-operation has increased to the point where old partners like Russia have privately complained. The Quad, a forum that brings together the US, India, Japan and Australia has lent strength to the India-US bilateral ties. But, of late, clouds have started to appear in this relationship. The visit of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to India appears to be an earnest attempt, from both sides, to iron out these differences.

Blinken, who is in India on a two-day visit, has met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval and is to make a call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His visit comes as the situation in Afghanistan worsens, and a concerned India is likely to press the US to put pressure on Pakistan to not let Afghanistan evolve into a breeding ground for terrorism. This is all easier said than done. For one, even as analysts globally debate the decision of the US President Joe Biden to pull out of Afghanistan, there is no doubt that for India this hasty and swift pull out of the US troops spells trouble. How much pressure the US is now willing to exert on Pakistan remains another open-ended question.

The Quad will be another high point on the agenda during the visit. In March this year, the US hosted a virtual meeting of the Quad and plans are afoot to have an in-person Quad summit in September this year. For the US, the Quad is essentially an anti-China forum and India, in that perspective, serves as an important partner to the US. President Biden has made it abundantly clear that the priorities of his administration are to counter the growing global influence of China. The September meeting of the Quad is likely to focus on building a regional infrastructure that can counter China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

The US is also looking at the Quad and India as a way to balance China's vaccine diplomacy with its own version. The Indo-Pacific engagement is something both countries are keen to further explore. But the catch here is that while the Quad makes great sense for the US to push back a growing and aggressive China, can India also use the forum to achieve a greater balance with China? Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Tibet is a clear and loud message from China that it remains territorially ambitious and after Tibet, the next in line could well be Taiwan. For India, the tricky part is how to ensure that the US also lends its support as India combats a China that seems to be making threatening noises at its very borders.

The US raised the issues of human rights and freedom of expression during the visit and it will be interesting to see how India responds to that. Following the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, the US had called for the easing of restrictions in the region. In February this year, during his first phone conversation with PM Modi after assuming office, US President Biden had "underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions and norms around the world and noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock for the US-India relationship". The message that Blinken carries this time around isn't too different.

This is the first visit of Blinken to India as Secretary of State after Biden took over in Washington DC. For both countries, this is also a bit of a reset as the Trump Presidency and the Biden Presidency seem to have sharp differences in their world outlook. But both seem equally focussed on China and in pushing it back. And that is precisely why India remains an important partner for two vastly different US administrations. For India, the trick now is to figure out how to play the Quad card in its favour while remaining a strategic ally to the US. As also how to strategically assure the US lends it the support it needs in managing the regional mess in Afghanistan, with the pressure kept steady on Pakistan.

The writer is a Delhi-based journalist and analyst who specialises in foreign affairs. Views expressed are personal