‘Public trust in US questioned…’: Expert says India has no-drama relationship with Russia, France

US foreign policy expert, specialising in South Asia, Michael Kugelman, said there have been many times over the last two decades when Indian public trust in the US has been called into and questioned. 

Kugelman spoke of India’s relationship with the US, as against India’s no-drama relationship with Russia and France. 

“There’ve been times over the last 2 decades when in India, public trust in the US as a partner is called into question & contrasted w/India’s reliable, no-drama relationships w/Russia, France etc. Khobragade affair, late US response to India COVID crisis, Pannun. And right now,” he said. 

The “Khobragade affair” as mentioned by Kugelman is a reference to a diplomatic standoff between India and the US, which had resulted after Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy Consul General at the diplomatic mission in New York, was arrested in 2013 on charges of visa fraud and perjury. 

Meanwhile, the Pannun case refers to a report by The Financial Times that stated that the US had thwarted a plot by Indian agents to assassinate Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. This led the US to issue a diplomatic warning to India over concerns that the government was involved in the plot. Indian authorities stated that they were examining the US information. 

Kugelman’s assessment came after reports that Donald Trump used trade threats to intervene and stop India’s military action against Pakistan after the latter attacked India with drones and missiles. Once the countries agreed on a ceasefire, Trump took credit for maintaining peace in the region. However, before stepping in, the US had said the India-Pakistan conflict was none of its business. 

Strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney also said that Delhi should thank Trump not for his intervention but for revealing that the US, under his leadership, is an unreliable partner when it comes to matters of strategic security and counterterrorism. “That awareness is a gift, however unintentional, and should guide India’s future geopolitical calculations,” he said. 

Similarly, former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin also said, “Trump’s careless bragging about his use of trade threats to quiet India and Pakistan may have cost America’s defence firms billions of dollars.”