Jeff M. Smith
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the popular Indian leader elected to a third term last summer, is in town this week to meet with President Donald Trump and kickstart a new era in the growing India-U.S. strategic partnership.
While some U.S. partners and allies met the news of Trump’s election victory with a degree of trepidation, India was not among them. India-U.S. ties thrived during the first Trump administration. The two governments inked several key diplomatic and defense agreements, started new joint military exercises, and revived the highly significant Quad grouping joining four democracies—Australia, India, Japan, and the United States—with shared and growing concerns about China’s rise.
The Indian and U.S. militaries are now refueling each other at sea, U.S. warships are being maintained at Indian shipyards, and the two intelligence communities are comparing notes on Chinese naval deployments. When China engaged in a deadly border clash with Indian soldiers in 2020, President Trump ordered the swift delivery of military and intelligence support.
The two leaders have repeatedly demonstrated a good personal rapport and mutual affinity. They famously appeared together before 50,000 cheering American fans at the “Howdy Modi” rally in Texas. And similarly participated in the “Namaste Trump” rally that gathered over 100,000 adoring Indians in Gujarat.
There are other good omens. Leading national security officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz are well-known, longstanding boosters of India-U.S. ties: Waltz recently served as co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus while one of Secretary Rubio’s first official meetings was with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
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https://www.heritage.org/international-economies/commentary/donald-trump-and-narendra-modi-can-transform-us-india-relations