The image of holding hands with and at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin,
, after relations soured following deadly border clashes in 2020, triggering a yearslong standoff between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants.
At the same time, has continued its close energy and defense partnership with Russia,
Modi’s high-profile visit to came as US-India relations grew strained after
Indian foreign policy experts, however, say New Delhi is not fully turning away from Washington, stressing that it’s about balancing competing pressures and leveraging relationships across blocs.
Meera Shankar, a former envoy to the US, said India follows a policy of multi-alignment and strategic autonomy in an increasingly unstable and volatile world.
“India is seeking to rebalance its relations with the great powers in the light of the Trump administration targeting India with high tariffs and singling it out for special penalties ” said Shankar.
She underlined that the friction between India and the US could put at risk.
“Disruption in ties between India and the US could adversely affect the objective of both countries to shape a more stable balance in Asia and would also provide a fillip to China’s growing sway in this region,” she said.
No alignment with China and Russia
Shankar described India’s approach to dealing with the US as “neither confrontation nor capitulation.”
“We will continue to see how best we can work our way forward through or around our differences, within the framework of our right to choose our own policies,” she said.
Despite the current tensions, President Donald Trump said the US and India have a “special relationship” and there is nothing to worry about as the two countries “just have moments on occasion.”
“I’ll always be friends with (Narendra) Modi… He’s a great Prime Minister. He’s great. But I just don’t like what he’s doing at this particular moment,” Trump said at the Oval Office on Friday when asked whether he was prepared to reset relations with India.
Modi responded to Trump’s statement saying both sides still shared “very positive” ties.
“Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties,” Modi wrote on X, adding that India and the United States shared a “very positive and forward-looking comprehensive and global strategic partnership.”
Amitabh Mattoo, dean at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies, said New Delhi’s outreach to Beijing and Moscow should not be mistaken for “naive alignment.”
It’s classic Indian statecraft, strategic hedging wrapped in the rhetoric of multipolarity, he noted.
“In this balancing act, India is neither succumbing to Chinese blandishments nor abandoning its long-term bet on the US. Think of it as India walking a diplomatic tightrope,” Mattoo told DW.
Mattoo, who has been chronicling their bilateral ups and downs, said the danger for Washington is not that India will become an adversary, but that India will become more self-sufficient, less dependent, and therefore less pliable.
“If the US fails to read India’s aspirations, it risks losing not just an ally, but a partner that could anchor its Indo-Pacific vision. In a century where the tectonic plates of power are shifting, America cannot afford to appear fickle in Asia,” he said.
Do India and the US need each other?
Mattoo, however, was quick to point out that India, too, with the US in the long term.
“It may hedge, posture, and diversify its partnerships, but at the end of the day, the US remains indispensable — technologically, militarily, and geopolitically,” the expert said.
“The relationship will have turbulence, but the logic of convergence is stronger than the logic of divergence. For both nations, the choice is stark. Friction is a luxury, partnership is a necessity.”
affect roughly half of India’s nearly $87 billion (€74.7 billion) worth of annual exports to the US.
They apply to goods like textiles, gems, leather, marine products, and chemicals, while electronics, smartphones and pharmaceuticals remain exempt, for now.
The duties threaten the competitiveness of these labor-intensive sectors,
The chill in relations also coincides with , with two critical negotiation rounds scheduled for the coming month to resolve longstanding issues.
‘India committed to strategic autonomy’
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, a former Indian foreign secretary, said that both India and US recognize that their strategic partnership remains mutually indispensable for navigating an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape.
“India remains committed to strategic autonomy. It engages major powers for diplomacy, not for choosing sides or entering rigid new alliances,” Shringla told DW.
He pointed out that ties with the US are the most comprehensive and multi-faceted India has with any country, stressing confidence in the durability of the partnership despite periods of strain.
“The bilateral connection transcends immediate political or economic friction and is capable of weathering shifts in global and domestic contexts.”
Sreeram Chaulia, professor and dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs, echoes this view.
He stressed that both China and Russia cannot replace the US in India’s strategic calculus, not least because of India’s significant trade deficits with those countries.
“India’s trade deficit with China for the fiscal year 2024-25 was over $99 billion, driven largely by a surge in imports of electronic goods, consumer durables, electric batteries, and solar panels,” Chaulia told DW.
“Moreover, China’s approach is driven by a zero-sum mentality and hegemonic aspirations. The relationship with US is complex but fundamentally based on strategic convergence and mutual benefit.”
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
The post India rebalances China, Russia ties amid US tariff friction appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
