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Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India during Modi’s Official State Visit to Washington DC.
India and the US talk China
In 2018, the two countries launched the “2+2 Dialogue” to boost defense cooperation and align policy objectives in the Indo-Pacific. India is still reeling from a skirmish in June 2020 — along the 2167-mile unmarked and disputed Himalayan border it shares with China — during which India’s military performed poorly and 20 of its soldiers died. Relations between the two nuclear-armed countries have since soured, giving the US and India a common cause in deterring Chinese aggression.
China has taken the US and India from distant allies to close partners — with the two conducting joint military exercises, working to strengthen the Indo-Pacific Quad alliance, and hosting each other for glitzy state visits. The US has even shown a willingness to overlook India’s human rights transgressions and prioritized deepening ties over Canada’s calls for the US to respond to India allegedly killing a Sikh community leader on Canadian soil.
The meetings are expected to solidify ongoing deals for the US and American companies to produce engines for Indian fighter jets and supply MQ-9 predator drones. , and build semiconductor manufacturing.Podcast: Modi's India on the world stage
Listen: Is India a US ally? Based on the pomp and circumstance surrounding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington in June, the answer seems obvious, right? They love us! We love them! End of story. Right?
Well ... it’s complicated.
India’s government is not ready to hitch its star to the American wagon, and the US has made it somewhat clear that it’s not a fan of India’s friendly ties to Russia and Iran. Add to that increasing international scrutiny of India’s eroding democratic norms, press freedom crackdowns, and religious persecutions, and the question becomes murkier still: Is India a US ally.
Ian's guest this week will do her best to answer that question and more. Barkha Dutt is an award-winning Indian broadcast journalist with more than two decades of reporting experienceSubscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.U.S. President Joe Biden, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. first lady Jill Biden wave during an official State Arrival Ceremony at the start of Modi's visit to the White House
Modi’s moment in Washington
India’s PM Narendra Modi got the star treatment this week in Washington, DC, becoming only the third head of state – after France’s Emmanuel Macron and South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol – to be honored with all the pomp and circumstance of an official state dinner by President Joe Biden.
After meeting with Biden on Thursday, Modi also addressed a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol – his second speech before US lawmakers since coming to power in 2014. He spent a large chunk of time talking up India’s democratic bonafides, referring to his country as “the mother of democracy” and nodding to the state’s 2,500 political parties.
Modi also reinforced that “diversity is a natural way of life,” a clear pushback to critics who say that the Indian head of state has eroded democratic norms at home by giving a pass to Hindu vigilantes (more on that below).
Regarding the war in Ukraine, he called for respect for “territorial integrity and sovereignty,” but he failed to refer to Russia and instead made sweeping references to the need for “diplomacy.”
So why all the bells and whistles for Modi? As India solidifies its place as a political and economic power, the US has placed the South Asian giant at the center of its geopolitical strategy aimed at both diversifying the global economy (code for diverting supply chains away from China) and forming a diplomatic alliance of like-minded democracies to counter American foes like Russia and China.
For Washington, boosting ties with India, a self-defined non-aligned state, has become even more urgent since Russia, a longtime Indian ally, started a war in Ukraine. Indeed, India has been buying up a lot of cheap Russian oil, which has been central to keeping Moscow’s economy afloat.
Biden, for his part, has come under fire for warmly embracing Modi, a Hindu nationalist who stands accused of suppressing religious minorities at home – particularly Muslims – and was once banned from entering the US for failing to respond to a religious pogrom in his home state of Gujarat when he was Chief Minister. But as India’s star rises, having recently surpassed China as the world's most populous country, Washington has clearly opted for alliances based on realpolitik concerns rather than human rights.