Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a State Visit to the United States of America from June 21 to June 23. In addition to interacting with President Joseph Biden and his team, the Indian premier will address a joint session of the United States (US) Congress. Over the past few months, considerable preparatory work was conducted including during the recent visits of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit to India. Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also traveled to New Delhi for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ and Quad Ministerial meetings. The Secretary also met External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar.

There is an anticipation that the visit will result in significant outcomes. For instance, Kurt Campbell, the Indo-Pacific coordinator of the US National Security Council, stated: “My hope is that this visit consecrates the India-US relationship as the most important bilateral relationship for the US on the global stage and that we effectively make it into escape velocity.”

Over the last two decades, the relationship between India and the US has significantly improved and is on a positive upward trajectory. During much of the Cold War, the bilateral relationship did not reach its full potential, and the brief episodes of cooperation did not translate into a strategic partnership. In the past two decades, both countries have worked assiduously to overcome the hesitations of history and course-correct the trajectory of the bilateral relationship.

It is important to acknowledge that the US is a superpower with the world’s largest economy and military capabilities unmatched by any other country. The US has a dominant presence in global institutions and can define the contours of global conversations on international politics and the economy. For a country with such power resources, modifying its policy with India was relatively easy.

On the other hand, India did not command similar power resources and had to overcome the memory of hostility during the Cold War. In 1971, the US moved its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier into the Bay of Bengal, threatening India during the conflict with Pakistan. After the 1998 nuclear tests, the US imposed sanctions on India. From Delhi’s perspective, the US policies in its neighborhood were not always helpful. The US had a long history of supporting Pakistan even after the end of the Cold War. The hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan enabled organisations with regressive ideological frameworks to take control of the country. Despite these experiences, the Indian leadership has demonstrated considerable commitment to upgrading the bilateral relationship with the US.  

In some quarters, in the US, there are apprehensions about the reliability of India as an alliance partner. An alliance means that if one partner is attacked, it will also be treated as an attack on the other partner. However, the challenge lies in the fact that Washington is yet to acknowledge Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir as integral parts of India, as defined by Delhi. Without a mutually accepted understanding of the territorial extent of each other’s territories, there can be no alliance. Moreover, as India’s External Affairs Minister noted, deploying Western treaty templates on India may not be useful either.