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    COVER STORY                                                         OCTOBER 24, 2025  |      The Indian Eye                     5

            to “a dance where both partners keep                                                                  India’s response has been measured
            stepping on each other’s toes, but nei-                                                               and strategic. Rather than issuing
            ther wants to leave the floor.”                                                                       sharp public statements, it is quietly
                Three  issues  continue  to  define                                                               strengthening  its  internal  economy
            the relationship and generate fric-                                                                   and expanding diplomatic outreach.
            tion: immigration, trade, and Paki-                                                                   This  restraint  reflects  a  long-term
            stan. The first is now symbolized by                                                                  calculation: Trump’s presidency, how-
            the H-1B fee controversy, which In-                                                                   ever turbulent, is just one phase in a
            dian officials view as punitive rather                                                                relationship that will outlast any indi-
            than reformist. Trump’s aides defend                                                                  vidual leader.
            the measure as necessary to protect                                                                       India’s foreign-policy establish-
            American workers, but the backlash                                                                    ment now views the United States
            from U.S. corporations and universi-                                                                  less as a benefactor and more as a
            ties reveals the policy’s self-defeating                                                              partner  whose  priorities  fluctuate
            logic. The second irritant, tariffs, is a                                                             with its domestic politics. The Modi
            long-running dispute about how fast                                                                   government’s bet is that enduring in-
            India should open its markets. Trump   US Commerce Secretary Scott Bessent has been talking tough on trade deal and import of   terests—shared concern over China’s
            demands “reciprocal” trade access                                                                     assertiveness, mutual dependence in
            and faster liberalization, while New                     Russian oil (ANI File Photo)                 technology, and the vast Indian dias-
            Delhi insists that domestic industries                                                                pora’s influence—will ensure that the
            must be allowed to mature. The third   The President’s outreach to Paki-  itics, but he cannot change the under-  partnership survives Trump’s periodic
            and most politically sensitive issue is   stan is a case in point. By reopening   lying logic of interdependence.”  bouts of protectionism and unpre-
            Pakistan. In recent months, Trump   limited military-to-military exchang-  Trump’s  economic  nationalism   dictability. The American establish-
            has sought to rebuild ties with Islam-  es and lifting some aid restrictions,   has also pushed India to accelerate   ment, too, remains invested in the
            abad, praising its “constructive role”   Trump hopes to restore U.S. influence   its  own  diversification.  Trade  talks   relationship. The Chamber of Com-
            in counterterrorism and reopening   in South Asia. His aides call it prag-  with the European Union, the Unit-  merce’s legal challenge to the visa fee
            channels of security cooperation that   matism; Indian analysts call it nos-  ed Arab Emirates, and Australia have   is itself a reminder that U.S. business
            had gone cold.                    talgia for a Cold War model that no   gained momentum, providing India   recognizes the value of Indian talent
                For India, the shift is unsettling.   longer works.             with alternative export markets. The   and trade far more than political slo-
            After years of being sidelined in     Even  within  the  trade  sphere,   message to Washington is subtle but   gans suggest.
            Washington, Pakistan suddenly finds   the picture is more nuanced than it   unmistakable: India values partner-  For all the friction, India and the
            itself  courted  again  as  a  regional   appears.  While  Trump’s  negotiators   ship with the United States but will   United States continue to cooperate
            partner. U.S. officials argue that co-  complain about India’s bureaucracy   not be held hostage to its domestic   on defense, energy, and digital secu-
            ordination with Islamabad is essen-  and slow decision-making, American   politics. That confidence is reinforced   rity. Joint military exercises such as
            tial for stability in Afghanistan and   companies continue to expand in-  by  India’s  growing  stature  in  the   Yudh Abhyas proceed uninterrupted,
            counter-terrorism operations. Indian   vestment in the Indian market. U.S.   Global South and its ability to speak   and intelligence sharing has deep-
            policymakers view this  as a  familiar   defense and aerospace giants such   for developing nations on energy, cli-  ened. These quiet continuities matter
            American misjudgment—a short-     as Boeing and Lockheed Martin are   mate, and supply-chain resilience.  more than the noisy disputes. The al-
            term tactical move that ignores Pa-  enlarging local production lines, while   Still, Trump’s pressure is real.   liance may lack the warmth of earli-
            kistan’s long history of nurturing ex-  energy  and  digital-infrastructure  The visa fee cuts into India’s compet-  er years, but it has gained resilience.
            tremist networks. Yet New Delhi has   firms see India as a long-term growth   itive edge in technology services; the   It now rests less on personal rapport
            avoided reacting publicly. Instead, it   frontier. Beneath the noise of tariff   trade  impasse  limits  market  access   between leaders and more on institu-
            is doubling down on a broader diplo-  disputes, the commercial foundation   for key sectors; and the Pakistan tilt   tional depth.
            matic strategy that emphasizes diver-  of the relationship remains solid. A   complicates security dynamics. Yet   Trump’s transactional instincts
            sification.  By  strengthening  partner-  Delhi-based economist observed that   none of these challenges has pro-  ensure that tension will remain a fea-
            ships with Japan, Australia, France,   “Trump can slow the process with pol-  duced panic in New Delhi. Instead,   ture of the partnership. He measures
            and the Gulf states, India ensures that                                                               relationships  in  deals  and  deficits,
            no single power, not even the United                                                                  not in trust or long-term alignment.
            States, can hold undue leverage over                                                                  India’s approach is almost the op-
            its foreign policy.                                                                                   posite: patient, layered, and rooted
                This quiet confidence is perhaps                                                                  in continuity. Yet, paradoxically,
            the most striking feature of India’s                                                                  this  difference  in temperament  has
            approach. In contrast to 2017, when                                                                   forced both sides to mature. India no
            Trump’s sudden policy shifts left                                                                     longer seeks validation from Wash-
            many governments scrambling, In-                                                                      ington,  and  the  United  States  in-
            dia now seems unruffled. It engages                                                                   creasingly acknowledges India as an
            Washington where interests align and                                                                  indispensable player in Asia, even if
            resists where they diverge. Econom-                                                                   disagreements persist.
            ic  reforms  at home,  combined  with                                                                     The coming months will test
            a more assertive global role—visible                                                                  whether Trump’s administration can
            in India’s leadership of the G20 and                                                                  translate pressure into genuine part-
            participation in the Quad—have giv-                                                                   nership.  So  far,  India  has  chosen
            en  it  the  confidence  to  negotiate  as                                                            pragmatism over provocation. Its dip-
            an equal. The government’s strategy                                                                   lomats are betting that steady engage-
            is one of calibrated patience: engage                                                                 ment will outlast Trump’s volatility.
            deeply but never depend entirely,                                                                     As one senior official in Washington
            and outlast the turbulence that comes   The proposed hike in the H-1B visa fee may affect Indian firms and techies (Agency file photo)  observed, “The President plays for
            with Trump’s style of governance.                                                                     headlines. We play for history.”

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