Our Bureau
New Delhi
Noting the aggressive posture of China, Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, said that India and the United States are aligned because of the growing threat of China, adding that both countries need each other to deal with Chinese aggression.
Aghi, the USISPF President said that India’s relationship with the US is multifold.
“It’s geopolitical, it’s economic, it’s technological, and it’s people-to-people. Regardless of whether it is Democratic or Republican, the relationship will continue to grow substantially and strengthen itself,” he said.
“Geopolitically, both countries are aligned because of the growing threat of China, the growing posture of China and the aggressive posture of China itself. And so, both countries need each other to deal with China itself,” said Aghi.
He further said that as India’s economy rises, it provides market opportunities for US companies.
“More important, as India’s economy grows from USD 4 to USD 5 trillion, India provides market opportunity to US companies. And as the threat from China gets stronger and stronger, what we are seeing is that US companies are getting harassed in China in order to derisk the supply chain. These companies are moving to Vietnam, but they are also important to India,” he said.
Noting that the third factor is technological, Aghi said that the substantial tech-savvy people in India are making US companies much more successful, much more competitive, and much more efficient.
“Either they are doing these works in India or coming over here. That partnership will continue to grow as the aging population of the US grows. And then people to people. You have five million Indian Americans, or 1.5 percent of the population, generating 6 percent of the GDP,” he said.
Aghi added that their engagement in the political process is very strong.
“You’re seeing Kamala Harris, you’re seeing JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance. You’re seeing Vivek Ramaswamy, and you’re seeing Nikki Haley. So, there is a substantial engagement of Indian Americans, and that’s going to drive the relationship in a positive direction,” he said.
He emphasized that regardless, whoever comes into contact with India and the US will get stronger day by day.
“I think its not just India; we will see that trade relationship impacting China, Europe and other parts of the world itself. I think Trump’s mind is that if you put tariffs in place, you can slow down the goods coming in, but tariffs impact consumers also,” he said.
Stressing that Indian political leadership understands Trump better and there will be a much smoother relationship, he said, “The more important thing is that India has dealt with Trump and they managed that relationship very carefully and successfully.”
Furthermore, shedding light on India-US cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, Aghi said that it serves the interests of the US and India to make sure that the Chinese domination of the Indo-Pacific does not happen because if China starts dominating, then India gets marginalized.
“Second, the alliance between the US and India is not just in QUAD; it is also happening in I2U2 in the Middle East and IMEC,” he added.
More importantly, it has gone beyond a defense alliance, he said.
“They both are participating in joint exercises up in the Himalayas, in the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea. So, I think the integration of the two military forces, two trading partners will get much more detailed, and successful,” he said.
Moreover, Aghi emphasized that as China acts more aggressively, we will see a stronger partnership between India and the US.
“So, as China gets more assertive, more aggressive, you will see a much stronger partnership between the two countries,” he said.
