Why India needs to stop fixating on Indo-US relations

During every bilateral summit, the Indian media and South Asia watchers in Washington DC and New Delhi tend to over-analyse US-India relations threadbare. No doubt these are important meetings, however, there is an implied grandiosity that is signalled through the coverage.

The fact of the matter is that India is just one part of the United States’ foreign policy outlook — in spite of high-volume events like Howdy, Modi! and bilateral meetings that get huge playback in India. Washington is just too preoccupied with its political and economic interests that are more pressing in less stable parts of the world.

The C.R.I.M.E.A.N.

At a recent event at The Hudson Institute, a leading think tank in Washington DC, Senator Chris Murphy from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee waxed lyrical on the US’ priorities and threats from certain regions. He spoke extensively on geopolitical rivalries with Russia and China. He addressed American investors’ concerns pertaining to Brexit. Murphy addressed the volatilities in the Middle East pertaining to Iran and Saudi Arabia. He spoke about allies such as Israel and the recent elections there. Even protests and human right concerns in Latin America featured in the talks, but South Asia wasn’t raised at all. This despite the impending US withdrawal from…