India's Long View On The US

Midterms have braced the political middle in Washington, making it a more dependable partner for us

- Pramit Pal Chaudhuri

India and the United States have reached a geopolitical sweet spot thanks to two decades plus of engagement. Since the George W Bush administration through to President Joe Biden, the two countries have experienced a widening and deepening strategic convergence. The strategic glue is their shared concerns about an increasingly assertive and dangerous China. But there is now an economic and immigrant ballast of a kind never been seen before.

There are still potholes on the bilateral highway but both sides are careful to avoid contretemps over their different views on, for example, Pakistan and Russia. A pothole India has watched with some care is the direction of US domestic politics.

● One underrated strength of the US has been the remarkable degree with which its establishment could count on the unquestioning support of two-thirds of its public for its foreign and security policy, a trust that had its origins in World War II.

● Today, the belief the Beltway Knew Best and the worldview that evolved as a result are under pressure.

● Polls show that isolationist sentiment is at its highest point since World War II, concentrated in the extreme left and right.

● And far from a national consensus, the political centre has fallen apart and as a result policy-making does not hold. Improving relations with India has