Trump, Modi and the new partnership
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington on Feb. 13-14 took place against the background of Donald Trump's threat to impose crippling duties on imports from India, in response to the $45.7 billion trade deficit in India's favor.
To improve the atmosphere, before Modi's arrival, India announced steep reductions on selected items imported from the US. However, the atmosphere was seriously soured by US flights to India carrying Indian illegal immigrants in shackles.
At the outset, Modi sought to revive the bonhomie and warm personal chemistry he had enjoyed with the president in his first term through a play on words, recalling Trump's slogan, MAGA, Modi said his own slogan was 'MIGA,' Make India Great Again, and pointed out that the merging of the two slogans led to 'MEGA — a mega opportunity for prosperity.'
This play on words appears to have shaped the content of the joint statement, which indicates that relations between the two countries would be based on a series of acronyms that are unbeatable for their verbosity.
The full range of bilateral cooperation will now take place within the rubric of the 'US-India COMPACT for the 21st century,' the acronym standing for 'Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology.' Defense industrial cooperation will be shaped by 'ASIA,' the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance, while technology cooperation will occur through 'TRUST,' which stands for Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology. Partnership in technological innovation, unsurprisingly, needs another acronym, 'INDUS Innovation,' which itself is modelled on the earlier 'INDUS-X' platform. Finally, trade will be promoted by the 'BTA,' the Bilateral Trade Agreement that the two countries will finalize later this year.
The joint statement also sets out in minute detail every piece of military equipment the US has supplied India and what it hopes India will buy in the near future. It promises that Indo-US trade will, under Mission 500, go from $130 billion today to $500 billion by 2030. Energy cooperation will flourish so that the US emerges as 'a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and LNG (liquefied natural gas),' even as India obtains US-designed nuclear reactors.
In the defense area, the militaries of the two countries will march together 'in multilateral settings to advance global peace and security,' with a particularly 'close partnership' in the Indo-Pacific and in the Middle East. In respect of the latter, India and the US will convene partners from the India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor and I2U2 (India, Israel, the UAE and the US) 'to announce new initiatives in 2025.'
India's engagements with the US may be expected to be transactional, with the verbosity of the joint statement remaining delusional — full of sound and fury, signifying very little.
Talmiz Ahmad
Modi's visit has thrown up several positives for India. The US interest in expanding military sales to India has ensured that not only will India have access to state-of-the-art military equipment and technologies, it will also gain expertise through domestic production in selected areas. Similarly, the US could emerge as a major partner for India in the diverse areas of technology as well as the exploration, development and use of critical minerals. India will also benefit by obtaining technology for light-water nuclear reactors that now dominate the global nuclear scene.
However, trade is likely to remain a contentious issue between the two countries; the target of $500 billion for bilateral trade by 2030 can be achieved only if India, regardless of price, commits itself to buying American military equipment, energy resources and technology, and denies itself access to other competitive sources. This will impose an unacceptable burden on India and will need a firm pushback.
The visit also revealed some important areas of concern for India. The language of the joint statement is generally one-sided and appears to place India as a junior partner in support of US strategic interests. This is reflected in references to US interests in the Indo-Pacific and even the Indian Ocean that are obviously directed at confronting China in these spaces. Given that India shares 3,200 km of undefined border with China, it hardly suits Indian interests to be part of a US-led military coalition directed at China.
Similarly, the joint statement refers to the Middle East in language that takes no account of India's commitment to strategic autonomy. Specifically, while India has close ties with Israel, it continues to uphold the need for a 'two-state solution' to address Palestinian aspirations. Now, given the deep divide in Arab and Israeli positions after Gaza, India can hardly associate itself with the US in convening a meeting of the IMEEC partner states this year.
Above all, India is well aware of the frequent changes in US policy approaches, and the influence of extraneous elements on its policymaking. To this we must add Trump's unpredictability, his propensity for grandstanding, and his lack of interest in pursuing a longer-term vision — all of which make the US an extremely unreliable partner. This is most recently in evidence with regard to Ukraine and the exclusion of European countries from discussions relating to their own security.
Thus, India's engagements with the US may be expected to be transactional, with the verbosity of the joint statement remaining delusional — full of sound and fury, signifying very little.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
South Korea's military has shrunk by 20 percent in six years as male population dips
South Korea's military shrank by 20 percent in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world's lowest birthrate, a report said on Sunday. The dramatic decline in the pool of available males for military service is also causing a shortfall in the number of officers and could result in operational difficulty if it continues, the defense ministry said in the report. The report was made to the ruling Democratic Party member of parliament Choo Mi-ae, whose office released it. South Korea's military has steadily declined since the early 2000s when it had about 690,000 soldiers. The pace accelerated during the late 2010s and there were about 563,000 active-duty soldiers and officers in 2019. North Korea is believed to have an active-duty military of about 1.2 million, according to the latest estimate by the defense ministry in 2022. In the period between 2019 and 2025, the population of 20-year-old males declined by 30 percent to 230,000, according to government data, the age when most men who pass a physical exam enlist for military service, which is now 18 months long. The military has cited improved capabilities as a key reason for shortening service periods, made possible by a military alliance with the United States and the development of a defense industry that has become a major exporter of arms. Able-bodied men served 36 months in 1953 when the Korean War ended in an armistice. South Korea's defence budget, at more than 61 trillion won ($43.9 billion) in 2025, is larger than the estimated size of North Korea's economy. Still, the military is 50,000 troops short of the number of troops adequate for maintaining defense readiness, the ministry said. About 21,000 of the shortfall is in the non-commissioned officer ranks, it said. South Korea is one of the world's fastest ageing societies and has the lowest fertility rate in the world at 0.75 in 2024, which signifies the average number of babies a woman is expected to have during her reproductive life. Its population, which hit a peak of 51.8 million in 2020, is expected to shrink to 36.2 million by 2072, according to a government projection. ($1 = 1,388.6900 won)
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
South Korea's military has shrunk by 20% in six years as male population drops
SEOUL: South Korea's military shrank by 20 percent in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world's lowest birthrate, a report said on Sunday. The dramatic decline in the pool of available males for military service is also causing a shortfall in the number of officers and could result in operational difficulty if it continues, the defense ministry said in the report. The report was made to the ruling Democratic Party member of parliament Choo Mi-ae, whose office released it. South Korea's military has steadily declined since the early 2000s when it had about 690,000 soldiers. The pace accelerated during the late 2010s and there were about 563,000 active-duty soldiers and officers in 2019. North Korea is believed to have an active-duty military of about 1.2 million, according to the latest estimate by the defense ministry in 2022. In the period between 2019 and 2025, the population of 20-year-old males declined by 30 percent to 230,000, according to government data, the age when most men who pass a physical exam enlist for military service, which is now 18 months long. The military has cited improved capabilities as a key reason for shortening service periods, made possible by a military alliance with the United States and the development of a defense industry that has become a major exporter of arms. Able-bodied men served 36 months in 1953 when the Korean War ended in an armistice. South Korea's defense budget, at more than 61 trillion won ($43.9 billion) in 2025, is larger than the estimated size of North Korea's economy. Still, the military is 50,000 troops short of the number of troops adequate for maintaining defense readiness, the ministry said. About 21,000 of the shortfall is in the non-commissioned officer ranks, it said. South Korea is one of the world's fastest aging societies and has the lowest fertility rate in the world at 0.75 in 2024, which signifies the average number of babies a woman is expected to have during her reproductive life. Its population, which hit a peak of 51.8 million in 2020, is expected to shrink to 36.2 million by 2072, according to a government projection.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
India air force chief claims five Pakistani jets downed in May clash
India's air force chief said its military shot down at least five Pakistani fighter jets during a confrontation with its western neighbor in early May. Air Chief Marshall AP Singh said the fighter jets were shot down with the help of Russian made anti-missile defense system — S400. A hangar which housed US-made F-16 fighter jets was also hit, Singh said on Saturday in Bengaluru. 'We have at least five confirmed kills and one large aircraft,' Singh said. The large aircraft could have been either fitted with a powerful radar to detect incoming threats including enemy fighters, or one which is used to detect, analyze or jam enemy radar and communications, he said. In addition, a second sophisticated surveillance aircraft capable of jamming enemy communications that was parked at an airfield near Karachi was hit, Singh said. 'This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,' he said. Late Saturday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif denied any of the country's aircraft had been hit. Writing in a post on X, the minister suggested that both sides give access for an independent verification of aircraft inventories to ascertain the claims. Singh's comments were the latest insight into the damage wrought by the two nuclear-armed countries during the conflict as they came close to a full-scale war. The clash was the worst between the two sides in half a century as they traded air, drone and missile strikes, as well as artillery and small arms fire along their shared border. It was triggered by an attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22, where gunmen killed 26 civilians in what New Delhi termed as an act of terrorism orchestrated by Pakistan. Leaders in Islamabad denied involvement. In a May 31 interview, Anil Chauhan, chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, confirmed India lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in the clashes with Pakistan, without offering specific details. He called Pakistan's claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes 'absolutely incorrect,' though he declined to specify how many jets India lost. Pakistan said Chinese fighter jets were used to respond to military strikes by India. US President Donald Trump said last month that five jets may have been shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict, and reiterated that his administration used trade talks as a leverage to broker a ceasefire between the two sides, a claim New Delhi had repeatedly rejected.
