19 December 2024

India, US need each other to combat China. Don’t let domestic politics come in the way

Aparna Pande and Sarthak Pradhan

As recent events in Syria, eastern Europe, and South Korea demonstrate, the incoming Trump administration will face an even more uncertain world in 2025 than in 2017. Several of these geopolitical challenges are centred around and impacted by the rise of China. To combat these manifold challenges, the US and its allies will benefit from working with friends, like India, which has its own reason for wanting to push back against China.

China’s desire to replace the US-led post-World War II order with Chinese characteristics is centred upon building economic, technological and military power. To face the China challenge, the US and partners, like India, need to further deepen their people-to-people ties and economic partnerships. India has a huge human capital dividend, especially in fields of high technology, that is critical to US research institutions and businesses.

The US has capital and technology that, in turn, would help India build its potential to match China’s. While President-elect Donald Trump shared a strong personal bond with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his first term, Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from the US to India were quite low. To counter China’s economic rise, the US would benefit by supporting India’s economic potential.

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