Most populous country in the world since in 2023 it exceeded 1400 million Chinese people, India used to be called the largest democracy in the world. But during the Cold War this did not push it towards the American side, even if the non-alignment option allowed for friendship with Moscow without completely alienating Washington. However, in more recent decades, people began to draw attention to the common points between the United States and India, from the political system to the Anglo-Saxon tradition of the courts, from the widespread use of English to the capitalist spirit present both in Protestantism and, to a certain extent, in the mentality of a large part of Hindus. And the prospect of an alliance between America and India pleased the elites.
More pragmatically, India offered the United States an alternative to China as a supplier of goods, reducing the dependence on Chinese factories that was so evident during the pandemic.
It pleased, it offered… what seemed to have ended suddenly, with losses on both sides and manifest geopolitical irrationality, is now possible again. The 18% tariffs, in line (or even with some advantage) with those imposed by the United States on other Asian countries, are so important for India that, from what little is known about the conversations that led to the new understanding, they led to the acceptance of the renunciation of Russian oil, and probably one or another concession to the Americans. Trump certainly also had American economic interests in mind when he opted to back down from the tariff war.
But we shouldn’t look at what’s coming between Americans and Indians just from the economic side. Once again, geopolitical logic leads us to expect an approximation at several other levels, and it is certain that if the fight for supremacy on the planet will preferably take place in the Indo-Pacific, the United States will think above all about how to stop China in the Pacific, while India will be determined to do everything so that the ocean we call the Indian does not turn into a Sinian sea.
Deputy Director of News Diary
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