Indo- US Relations: Two To Tango

India and the US embark on their first ‘2+2’ dialogue as they look at ways to raise the relationship from the depths it has sunk to

- Sandeep Unnithan

India and the US are to embark on their most significant bilateral summit on September 6 when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mike Mattis begin their first ‘Two plus Two (2+2)’ dialogue with Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The 2+2 dialogue is to build a high level of trust between the two countries and promises to be the first of an annual series of dialogues held alternately in each country. India’s tango with the US comes on the 10th anniversary of the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

However, the smiles and photo-ops are unlikely to disguise the fact that the Indo-US relationship is going through one of its worst phases in the decade since the nuclear deal was operationalised in 2008 (it was inked in 2006) to become strategic partners. US President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy of December 2017 called India a ‘major defence partner of the US’, with whom he promised to ‘expand our defence and security cooperation’ and simultaneously put the squeeze on Pakistan by suspending aid worth $1.8 billion for its failure to take action against Islamist terrorists. The president’s recent actions, however, have fuelled dismay in India. “The 2+2 dialogue is taking place amidst the uncertainty that President Trump’s policies have created in international affairs, disturbing the comfort zone of both US allies and adversaries, as well as the assumptions of partners like India,” says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.