US, India cementing occasionally touchy relationship

The US-India "two plus two" ministerial level meeting in Washington on Monday turned into something far bigger - it was upgraded to a summit.

The symbolism was strong, signalling that differences over the war in Ukraine would not be allowed to derail a deepening relationship.

While saying that India wanted to maintain a good relationship with all, Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh told the ANI news agency that "America is our natural ally, no two ways about it".

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Still, there may be limits, Ms Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), told The Straits Times.

"The US puts a lot of value on its relationship with India and has really bent over backwards to express understanding of India's position on Russia," she said. "India is still balancing its foreign policy between the US and Russia, and... is sticking with its close ties to Russia."

"Even though we definitely saw a reaffirmation of the relationship (with the US)… I am concerned that in the future... Russia will be increasingly isolated and if India is seen as one of the few countries bailing Russia out, it won't be received well by the US Congress," she added.

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