Natural partners, unnatural times

India-US defence ties remain strong despite discord over trade and human rights. New Delhi would do well not to put this to the test

On Wednesday night in Washington DC, after the second US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, in which US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper co-hosted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, persistent questions from the US media about the continuing crackdown in Jammu & Kashmir and the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which discriminates against Muslim refugees in granting Indian citizenship, made it clear that these issues are now front and centre in the American perception of India. 

Since the warming of US-India relations two decades ago, Washington and New Delhi have both