Amid one of the sharpest downturns in India–US relations in recent years, two former senior officials from the Joe Biden administration—Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor, and Kurt M. Campbell, former Deputy Secretary of State—have urged Washington to remember the strategic value of New Delhi.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, they argued that despite the present trade deadlock and the Trump administration’s imposition of cumulative tariffs totalling nearly 50 percent on Indian imports, the bilateral partnership remains indispensable for shaping the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and countering China’s sweeping ambitions.

The commentary was framed against the backdrop of acrimonious developments, including public recriminations between New Delhi and Washington, disputes over India’s purchases of discounted Russian oil, and renewed tensions around Pakistan policy.

Both officials warned that if mishandled, the present course could push India closer to China and Russia—as symbolised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent SCO summit appearance alongside Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

The article underscored that India’s alignment with the US over the last two decades has been one of Washington’s most significant diplomatic achievements. From President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s breakthrough civil nuclear deal to the Biden-Modi era of cooperation in critical sectors such as AI, biotech, aerospace, and clean energy, successive governments in both countries have invested in deepening this bond.

Sullivan and Campbell stressed that this legacy enjoys broad bipartisan support in the US precisely because the partnership has inhibited reckless Chinese adventurism across Asia and created new avenues for technology and defence integration.

By allowing tariffs and political theatrics to dominate the dialogue, they warned, the US risks forfeiting the progress achieved over the last generation, leaving India trapped between an assertive China on its borders and eroded ties in technology, defence, and higher education with the West.

The commentary also addressed recent mixed signals in Washington’s South Asia policy. They contended that America’s long-standing error has been to treat New Delhi and Islamabad through a hyphenated “India-Pakistan” prism.

This, they argued, is strategically outdated. While US interests in Pakistan remain limited to counterterrorism and non-proliferation, the stakes in India—whether in terms of democracy, economic capacity, or strategic geography—are exponentially higher.

Trump’s recent embrace of Pakistan’s military leadership, his public claim of brokering the ceasefire following India-Pakistan hostilities, and his administration’s concurrent announcement of a trade deal to develop Pakistan’s supposed oil reserves only compounded India’s distrust.

The imposition of steep tariffs on Indian goods alongside preferential overtures to Islamabad appeared to signal a reversal of the fundamental bet that previous US administrations had placed on India as the more consequential partner.

Sullivan and Campbell outlined what they called five pillars of a revitalised US–India alliance anchored in a formal treaty framework, to be subject to US Senate ratification. Central to this vision is a proposed ten-year action plan covering cutting-edge sectors of mutual technological interest, including artificial intelligence, semiconductor design and manufacturing, biotechnology, quantum computing, clean energy technologies, advanced telecommunications, and aerospace.

The intent, they explained, is to construct a common innovation ecosystem linking India, the US, and like-minded allies, thereby ensuring that democratic powers retain the capacity to out-innovate authoritarian rivals such as China.

This architecture would blend two simultaneous approaches—the “promote” track, centred on joint R&D initiatives, coordinated public investments, and shared talent flows, and the “protect” track, focusing on harmonised export controls, confidential technology safeguards, and common cybersecurity measures.

The outcome would be a technology alliance not just in name but in substance, shaping global standards and supply chains for the next few decades.

At the heart of their call was a strategic reminder: India is not just another bilateral trading partner but one of the few countries whose trajectory will profoundly influence the 21st-century world order.

By letting tactical disputes over tariffs, oil purchases, or Pakistani overtures dictate the pace of ties, Washington risks undermining a historic alignment that has, until recently, enjoyed bipartisan consensus and strategic continuity.

As they put it, the goal cannot be merely to “restore the old, suboptimal status quo” but to seize this opportunity to build something deeper and more durable. For the US, mishandling the relationship not only diminishes Indo-Pacific stability but directly threatens its own innovation leadership and competitiveness.

Conversely, for India, alienating Washington at a time of mounting Chinese pressure risks narrowing its strategic options and weakening its long-term growth trajectory. The editorial thus serves as both a warning and a blueprint, urging leaders on both sides to move beyond short-term theatrics and recommit to a strategic partnership built on innovation, security, and values.

Based On NDTV Report