India-US relations are stable and thriving

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In one other period, the sale of main defence gear by the USA (US) to Pakistan would have rattled India, forged a shadow on bilateral ties and confirmed issues that Washington DC was nearer to Islamabad, and couldn’t be seen as a agency and reliable ally. Not anymore. The choice by the Joe Biden administration final week to clear the sale of a $450-million sustainment package deal for the Pakistan Air Drive’s F-16 fleet ruffled some feathers for certain, however each New Delhi and Washington had been fast to affirm their religion within the unprecedented ranges of cooperation on a gamut of points and throughout sectors, and thrust back hypothesis about any pressure in ties (a prime US official even clarified that the sale was not a message to India over its stance within the Ukraine battle and described the US-Pakistan safety relationship as “restricted”).

Sure, India registered its protest, and at an occasion this week, exterior affairs minister S Jaishankar identified that claims of the plane solely getting used for counter-terrorism functions “weren’t fooling anyone”. However on the identical occasion, Mr Jaishankar additionally underlined that the change within the India-US relationship was the largest transformation of his skilled profession and hailed the rising ties between the 2 international locations within the area of safety and defence. He identified that for nearly 40 years, starting 1965, the US didn’t present army gear to India, resulting in a deepening of ties with Moscow — a stance which solely modified with the 2008 civil nuclear deal after which enabled by a brand new management in India.

This factors to 2 essential developments. One, regardless of hypothesis on the contrary, the US-India relationship is secure and thriving regardless of variations on the Ukraine struggle and related geopolitical realities, and two, Pakistan is now not the invisible issue within the relationship, and Islamabad’s affect in shaping Washington’s stance in the direction of New Delhi is non-existent. This may solely augur nicely for India.