As United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins an important visit, India needs to confront hard truths about the Indo-US relationship. Of late, India, like much of the world, gives the striking impression of a deer being caught in the headlights. The US is not just untrustworthy, it is currently the biggest wrecking ball to hit global stability. But dependence on China carries its own discomfort. There are no effective alternative coalitions yet to counteract these powers. Many of India’s wounds, however, are self-inflicted. India will have to wean itself away from its own delusions.

First, any dealings with the US have to account for not just bilateral considerations or worries about China, but the entire global context. Indian foreign policy has been hugely diminished because we now operate on the assumption that we should focus on our interests, narrowly understood, even if the world be damned. India is not uniquely at fault. But the idea that bilateral wins or very short-term tactical considerations alone can create the space for India’s rise is myopic. Given India’s history, it is absolutely astonishing that it is the one country that, in the international system is, for all practical purposes, condoning not one but two imperial projects. India was tepid in its defence of international law when Russia invaded Ukraine. Its near silence, and the open and practical embrace of Israel and the US’s strategic objectives on Iran, is damning. India talks the........

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