Early in his first term, Obama wasn’t especially warm towards India. However, he soon visited India, hosted Manmohan Singh as the first foreign leader at the White House, and advocated a permanent seat for India on the United Nations Security Council.
Obama has since tried to rope India, along with Japan, into a hedge against China. India doesn’t want to be seen joining a “China containment” strategy. But India hasn’t really thought through its position.
India is under pressure to play a major role in Afghanistan and “cooperate” with the US to reduce tensions in the South China Sea, keep vital Asian sea-lines peaceful, and coerce Iran into giving up her nuclear programme, although she has the right to pursue peaceful nuclear activities.
India must resist such pressure while maintaining foreign policy independence and strategic autonomy. India must not underestimate its leverage vis-a-vis the US. For instance, even as it pursues the imposition of heavy sanctions against Iran, Washington has had to accept that India will continue to import oil from Iran, albeit in reduced quantities.
looking beyond borders 