Washington, Dec 25: India-US relationship made great strides in 2017, with President Donald Trump keeping his electoral promise of being the “best friend of India” inside the White House.
India was the only country for which the Trump administration came out with a 100-year plan; an honour not accorded to even America’s top allies. Not only Trump administration rechristened the Asia Pacific region as Indo-Pacific, much to the anxiety of China, giving a greater role and space for New Delhi in the entire region, but also for the first time the United States stated in clear terms that India is a key player in Afghanistan.
As Trump announced his South Asia Policy – giving India a key role in bringing peace in the war-torn nation – in August, for the first time a US president aligned himself with New Delhi’s position that terrorism emanates from Pakistan. While many critics would say that it still remains in the realms of rhetoric, top officials of the Trump administration assert that it would be a “big mistake” on the part of Pakistan if it did not take seriously the words of Trump.
President Trump recently released his first National Security Strategy, which described India as a “leading global power” and stressed on deepening US’ strategic partnership with New Delhi and support its leadership role in maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific region.
As President Trump said during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Washington, “the relationship between India and the United States has never been stronger, has never been better,” the top State Department official said. It is also for the first time that the US has aligned itself with India’s position on One Belt One Road of China.
Prominent among them is the issue of the H-1B visas, which attracts foreign specialised workers to come to the US for employment, many of them from India and China. Similarly, India has refused to succumb to any pressure when it comes to the interest of its own people. This was quite evident in the recently concluded WTO talks.
PTI