Special feature on Prime Minister Narender Modi’s visit to the US.....by Satnam Singh Sandhu

How India-US relations have scaled to new heights under PM Modi's leadership 

How India and US became indispensable friends 

Insignia of the growing bilateral relationship, the first-ever meeting of the India-United States (US) Strategic Trade Dialogue (IUSSTD) took place recently in Washington D.C. Forged over years, due to the remarkable shift in India’s foreign policy, a significant milestone in the bilateral ties was finally achieved between the two countries. 

While it showcased the growing cooperation of the countries, the already ripe bilateral relations will further deepen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US later this month. He will also be the first PM of India to address the US Congress twice.  Prior to this, he addressed US Congress in June 2016. As he had earlier termed the relationship as an “indispensable partnership,” the prospects of his forthcoming visit also remain high – from both sides.

 This will be PM Modi’s – an avant-garde champion of foreign relations, an eighth visit to the country ever since he took premiership in 2014. PM Modi made his first visit to the US, as PM, and addressed a boisterous crowd of the Indian diaspora at New York Madison Square Garden in September 2014. Over 19,000 people had traveled from across US and Canada to see him. 

Later in September 2019, PM Modi held the world’s attention, when a crowd of more than 50,000 Indian Americans and Non-Resident Indians gathered at Houston City’s NRG Stadium for the “Howdy, Modi’ event in a spectacular show of thriving overseas nationalism. 

The recent trade dialogue in Washington is expected to set in motion the strategic technology and trade collaborations envisioned under Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). The scope of bilateral ties – between India and the US – has widened in the last nine years and has rather developed into a strategic partnership that is key to global peace and prosperity. 

Be it counter-terrorism or climate change, both countries share common goals that have inched them closer with a shared strategy in recent years. The realization of shared interests and mutual dependence has further strengthened the ties of late. 

With PM Modi pioneering the new wave of ties with countries, India has now found a place on the world’s high table and the country is now sharing the center stage on world platforms – courtesy of the tenets of PM Modi’s new foreign policy. PM has treated foreign policy as an instrument of national importance and has been able to champion the country’s ties with the rest of the world – with the promotion of peace, prosperity, and ensuring sovereignty at its center.

 India’s renewed foreign policy is dubbed as the biggest accomplishment of the Modi government with the reason that it has catapulted India to new heights on various fronts. 

Coming back to India-US relations – now the indispensable partners. But how both countries witnessed an upswing in bilateral relations after PM Modi came to power? Although not many believed it before, the ability of PM Modi to bridge ties is now well-accepted by leaders across the world. So is the US which has ultimately realized the importance of India for peace and prosperity in the region, especially in the face of emerging China. 

After he became PM, Narendra Modi made a high-profile US visit in September, on the invitation of then US president Barack Obama, and addressed the Indian diaspora at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Obama later became the first US president to be the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi in January 2015. The purpose of the visit was to further cement the ties with the US and attract investment, but the bilateral engagements, afterward, at various levels provided a sustained momentum to the partnership that has grown exponentially in all these years. 

The renewal of the ten-year Defence Framework Agreement between India and the US in 2015 was the result of PM Modi’s second visit to the country. This way both the countries agreed in principle to pursue joint development and production projects. From May 2014 to January 2017, PM Modi and Obama met nine times, three of which were summit interactions.

Expansion of strategic ties  

In the last few years, the bilateral relationship also has expanded into a global partnership with greater convergence of views on several issues such as international terrorism and a shared approach to rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region. The relations further saw an expansion, rather more strategic this time, with the launch of the 2+2 Dialogue in 2018. India held its first 2+2 dialogue with the US in September 2018 in New Delhi which was envisaged as a shoulder-to-shoulder commitment and a strategic partnership and promotion of collaboration in diplomatic and security efforts. The agenda for the summit encompass shared concerns and strategies to strengthen the US and India Relations. The summit which has been conducted five times so far, has produced appreciable outcomes for India over the years and is seen as pivotal to India’s growing relations with the US. 

The relations between the country reached the zenith, with the US designating India as a Major Defense Partner (MDP) in 2016 and was later elevated to Strategic Trade Authorization (STA-1) in 2018. The move was welcomed by India. It allows the country to receive license-free access to a wide range of military and dual-use technologies regulated by the Department of Commerce.

Another strategic win was the signing of the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) by India and the US during the first-ever ‘two plus two’ dialogue held in New Delhi. The agreement which was under negotiation for nearly a decade is one of the three foundational defense pacts that needs to be signed by a country in order to obtain high-tech military hardware from the US. India had signed only one of these agreements – the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) – in 2016 prior to signing COMCASA. This facilitated access to advanced defense systems and enable India to optimally utilize its existing US-origin platforms.

Recent years have seen a rise in military exercises between the US and India. Although the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad which is a multilateral dialogue form of India, the US, Japan, and Australia was established in 2007, it has witnessed a major revival with the shift in foreign policy under the present dispensation. It was resurrected in 2017 with the purpose to safeguard the shared interests of the members in the Indo-Pacific region and has been able to counter the influence of China in the region.

After the revival of QUAD, the milestone was achieved finally later in 2020, India and the United States signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) – with an eye on the commitment to keep the Pacific region safe and open – which is the last foundational military agreement signed by both countries over the past two decades. This along with LEMOA and COMCASA completed the troika of foundational pacts for the deep military cooperation between the two countries. 

In another expansion of strategic technology partnerships, another joint initiative ‘Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)’ was announced in 2022. 

The United States of America is India's largest trading partner and one of the few nations with which India had a trade surplus in 2021 and 2022. India and the United States of America traded a record amount of US$ 119.42 billion in 2021-2022, up from US$ 80.51 billion in 2020-21. In 2021-22, India had a trade surplus of US$ 32.8 billion with the US. The ‘Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)’ is going to give it a boost. 

During his forthcoming visit to the US, PM Modi is expected to discuss ways to further expand ties and discuss strategies to combat challenges like climate change and security. While both US and India are already at the height of their bilateral relationship, the forthcoming visit of PM Modi to the country will strengthen the shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific. It will push the bilateral ties to the next level. 

June 13, 2023