Kaush Arha
This week, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Washington, DC for two days of talks with newly-elected President Donald Trump. While the summit will no doubt be full of announcements on trade deals and defense cooperation, it is important not to lose sight of the greater opportunity.
The United States and India’s core national interests call for a strong alliance between two great nations in an era of great power competition. Bureaucratic skepticism borne from past mistakes keeps the world’s oldest and largest democracies from forging an epoch-shaping alliance. However, it is time for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to overcome the hesitations of history through a clear-eyed and reciprocal partnership that propels India’s strategic autonomy from the shadows of China to its rightful place—a truly great power and a redoubtable American ally.
India’s primary goal is to regain historic parity with China as one of two leading Asian powers with expanding global influence. India needs to substantially augment its hard power capabilities to optimize its strategic autonomy. Presently, this is constrained by China’s superior military and economy. Hard power determines a nation’s strategic autonomy and the reach of its soft power. To paraphrase President Theodore Roosevelt, soft speech is greatly amplified when accompanied by a big stick. A strong alliance with the United States is India’s optimal conduit to build and sustain its hard power.
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