The former U.S. diplomat says if Washington does not make some difficult decisions, it risks losing India on issues of graver importance.

Highlights

Do you think India has made a strategic shift?

• I don’t think India has made any fundamental strategic shift against the United States. Polygamous strategic partnerships have been the norm since the Cold War and will be the norm going forward. Not even China with its assertive behaviour has managed to catalyse a unified military alliance against itself
• But other states are pursuing diverse means of balancing China: India is looking to Japan and to the U.S. (and vice versa) for specific purposes and succeeding in that. The India-U.S. 2+2 talks now slated for September this year will only corroborate this proposition further.

Source: The Hindu