The speculation and excitement around the U.S. election has ended with the victory of Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump. For the first time in over a 100 years, a candidate has become president after being voted out of office once prior, returning to power in a non-consecutive term. While his victory will have significant consequences domestically, the results of this election will have ripple effects across the world.

South Asia is no exception and it will be impacted by Trump’s “America First’’ approach in the foreign and security policy domains. India, Pakistan and Afghanistan are betting their hopes on greater U.S. engagement with South Asia. However, if Trump’s first tenure and his recent election campaign are any guide, Washington’s South Asia policy will be guided by its vision for the Indo-Pacific, which was first put forth in Trump 1.0.

The crux of the Indo Pacific strategy propounded by the first Trump administration was to ensure a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific against China’s revisionist and coercive behavior with the help of allies and partners. The Biden administration took this one step further by pursuing strategic competition with China, terming it a “pacing threat” and enacting measures to curtail China’s dominance in various strategic sectors. Trump 2.0 would continue the threads of Biden’s policy by following a........

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