The United States and China dominate the global stage, and each sees India through a different lens. Washington views Delhi as a strategic partner, an essential player in the Indo-Pacific, yet also as a country capable of challenging American economic influence. Beijing regards Delhi as its principal regional challenger, a competitor for strategic space from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean. Both powers, despite their own differences, have found it useful to encourage Pakistan as a spoiler against India.

The latest shock in the Indo-American tariff war came when US. President Donald Trump ordered a doubling of tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of discounted Russian oil and its “unfair" trade practices. This was not an isolated skirmish. It was a reminder of how quickly even “strategic partners" can weaponise economic measures. Tariffs hit exporters and unsettle investor sentiment. They also embolden domestic sceptics of the relationship, pushing societies back into their ideological dugouts.

For over two decades, India-US ties have been marked by expanding defence cooperation, intelligence sharing, and deep people-to-people links. Agreements such as LEMOA, COMCASA, and BECA have enabled unprecedented military interoperability. The US has supported India’s rise in multilateral forums, from the Quad to export-control regimes like the MTCR. Yet the relationship has never been free from transactional calculation. As Sameer Lalwani of the Council on Foreign Relations notes, “Major differences remain in defence spending priorities, the role of civilian oversight, and the independence of defence-industrial bases."

When trade friction escalates, as it has now, these differences surface quickly. The U.S. is pushing for greater market access in agriculture, GM crops, and dairy. This runs into India’s domestic political red lines. After three years of farm protests, New........

© News18