Indo-US ties: Sailing into choppy waters

Questions over India's democratic stability and economic upturn will weigh on the ties between the two countries in 2020

What is the outlook for the Indo-US tie in 2020? The upswing in the relationship that was highlighted by the signing of the civilian nuclear deal in 2008 started abating when Donald Trump became president of the US in 2017.  Economic progress was the outstanding reason why India went up in America’s estimation after 1991. Its high growth rates over a 15-year period persuaded Washington to believe that it could become a counterpoise to rising authoritarian China. Additionally, India’s stability as a multicultural democracy also impressed the US, especially after the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in