Among the emerging world powers keenly following the dramatic 2020 US election is India Given the planets two largest democracies sh
Among the emerging world powers keenly following the dramatic 2020 US election is India. Given the planet’s two largest democracies share strong economic, cultural and strategic ties, the Trump-Biden contest has generated a lot of interest among Indian policy makers and the general public. Pranay Kotasthane, an analyst at the Takshashila Institution in Bangalore, says the election’s impact on the Indo-US relationship has to be viewed through the prism of China, which “remains the biggest strategic challenge for both the US and India”. “Whether it’s a Democratic establishment or a Republican one, there is a bi-partisan consensus that the Chinese threat needs to be countered,” he says. India and China are involved in a tense standoff following deadly military clashes earlier this year. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper recently visited India, agreeing to share geospatial satellite and sensor intelligence with India. Manoj Joshi, of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, also contends that in the case of a Biden win, the US will not change its approach towards China. “I think the die has already been cast, meaning that the US policy towards China has been shifted by the Trump administration in a decisive direction.
