INDIA-US-INDO-PACIFIC
Trump Disorder in India-US Relations Domestic Discourse amid Strategic Disruption

By : Titli Basu

Page No: 341-360

Abstract
As US’s strategic bet on India erodes, a sharper reflection on Delhi’s strategic reality and choices are urgent. Trump 2.0 has demonstrated decisiveness in imposing costs on Delhi. While President Trump’s unilateral tariffs have dented the strategic imperative underpinning bilateral ties, political signalling around the India-Pakistan conflict has contributed to a perceived erosion of strategic trust, underscoring expectation gaps. This has prompted deeper scrutiny of whether President Trump has disrupted the longstanding bipartisan consensus on Delhi’s strategic utility, and perceived exceptionalism in American grand strategy. As Delhi searches for pragmatic solutions, it is pertinent to unpack how the strategic community is debating India’s policy options amidst the Trump disorder. To be sure, some of the core concerns in the bilateral relations — be it Delhi’s protectionist policies or fundamental fault lines on their respective visions of the global order — predate President Trump. As Delhi’s grand strategy gets tested, domestic debates are anchored on the theme of competing visions of order, strategic autonomy and the fluidity of choices, complexity in the China debate, and gaps in India’s potential and staying power. Any expectations of a decisive Indian pivot towards closer alignment with Washington are misplaced. Mapping the domestic debate largely reinforces the resilience of the established preferences for strategic autonomy and multi-alignment in navigating an increasingly fragmented international order.

Author
Titli Basu is an Associate Professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/IFAJ.2025.20.4.4