It’s really difficult to describe the recently concluded compact between the two democracies with a suitable acronym although in practical ways the meeting between Donald Trump and Narendra Modi marked a new chapter in their relationship. So, the residue of the mega Howdy Modi show in 2019 could only be counted as a nostalgic factor while Trump 2.0 finds America’s external affairs in a state of turbulence. It is like a prestige fight for Trump to appear in a new avatar in which his rhetoric to take Gaza, Panama Canal and Greenland has already evoked strong reactions. In the circumstances, the Indian quandary has also accentuated because

i) Trump appears to be excessively transactional,

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ii) the US has started scrutinizing its trade imbalances with different countries and

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iii) the US has already initiated steps to deport illegal Indians back to India, which will mount pressure on the MEA. On the other hand, morally speaking India has no locus standi to protest against such Trumpian moves because Modi’s government too had securitized the Rohingya issue and barred refugees from seeking security in India under the principle of non-refoulement. So, if Trump’s decision is found to be precipitously harsh, India’s stand on the refugee issue can’t be exonerated from the charge of being equally discriminatory and contradictory.

However, for a middle power like India what is more important to understand is the direction of the transition of international politics. Here we find the emergence of new features that cannot be simply regarded as post-Cold War unipolarity but a uni-multipolar world where multiple great powers would vie for power to rejig the balance of power regionally but which ultimately will act as second fiddle to the sole superpower. So, it is simultaneously India’s predicament as well as an opportunity to strike a chord with the US-favoured world order which allows her space to dominate in South Asia while getting pressured and the Americans on the economic and trade fronts since India due to its sheer size offers an extensive market for the American business interests.

By now it is clear that Trump’s second term would be........

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