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This event is part of the series “The Neighbourhood Scope,” a monthly feature of the Strategic Studies Programme that intends to rekindle key conversations, questions, and debates concerning India’s neighbourhood.
The global order is currently buzzing with alignments and realignments. In the last few years, the indispensability of strong ties between the United States and India, owing to growing cleavages between Washington and Beijing was taken as the established status quo. But the return of Trump in January 2025 has shaken this up. Since the pause of Operation Sindoor with a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May 2025, Washington’s growing embrace of Pakistan has raised concerns in India. Since then, Pakistan’s Army Chief has visited the United States twice. Both visits saw the invoking of grandiose statements- on nuclear sabre rattling and the mediation by the US President to cease hostilities between India and Pakistan, an assertion rejected by New Delhi. The US and Pakistan have resumed counterterrorism cooperation, even as Delhi bears the collateral damage of Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Amidst these developments, some speculate re-hyphenation of India and Pakistan, others fear the worse – the US prioritizing Pakistan over India.
What explains the recent thaw in ties between the US and Pakistan? Are we witnessing the US’s rehyphenating of India and Pakistan, or is the new administration resetting the bilateral equation with both countries? Can there be a structural shift in how Washington engages with Islamabad? What concerns does this raise for India, both in terms of its partnership with the US and Pakistan, particularly in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor? Coming in the backdrop of proposed sanctions and tariffs on India, what impact will it have on the strengthening of ties between the two sides – and will Pakistan tap on these differences to further its interests?
