US Sees India As Crucial Due To Its Power To Contain China: Foreign Policy Expert Max Abrahms At Rising Bharat 2025

Source: News18 | Original Published At: 2025-04-08 15:07:36 UTC

Key Points

• US views India as critical for containing China's rise
• Tariff disputes unlikely to derail US-India bilateral relations
• Trump administration prioritizes transactional relationships over multilateralism
• India's strategic and economic importance grows in US foreign policy
• Quad and other multilateral frameworks remain tools for US regional strategy

At the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, US foreign policy, counterterrorism, and international security expert Max Abrahms said that the United States sees India as crucial owing to its ‘power to contain China’.

‘The United States (US) is very close with India because of our shared principle. Because India is the largest democracy in the world, but also increasingly important because of its power…Particularly from the US strategic perspective, India is seen as critical in terms of power to contain China…This administration although in a way is all over the place with Ukraine, Iran, Hamas, Houthis…but there is no issue geopolitically of more importance to this administration than the rise and potential threat of China. To that end, the relations with India are seen of paramount importance. We also see that in the Quad relationship,’ said the Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University.

Speaking about the US tariffs, he said, ‘Israel’s tariffs were raised more than Turkey. The difference between China and Taiwan is small even though the US views China as an adversary and Taiwan as critical against China… You are right, the tariffs were not raised based on Washington’s geopolitical love…The deficits are a big part of this…Part of it has to do with the US envisioning its role differently. There is also domestic politics…the MAGA movement. The American voters feel globalisation hasn’t been good to them. There are billionaires, but they are not accruing the financial benefits. Especially after the Joe Biden years when there was inflation, but their incomes didn’t go up. The sentiment is globalisation did not do good to every day American.’

When asked what the US-India equation means in a post-China recalibration, Abrahms said, ‘It probably will have a good effect by showing that the US cannot be relied upon 100% as a pillar. This will induce American allies to become more autonomous, to diversify their economic relations. India is in a very good position to accelerate the strong bilateral relationship with the US. The US and India are not going to let this tariff conversation over the past couple of weeks derail their relationship and will find some kind of bilateral solution, which will put India and US on a stronger economic relationship, compared to the US’s relationship with other allies.’

‘The best approach is for countries to say to the Trump administration that they understand and they want to work out a mutually beneficial relationship rather than a reciprocal punishment. Netanyahu’s approach was that. He is going to find a way to make moves, which will make both sides happy. That is the best approach, Trump places a lot of weight on personal relationships. If those can be fostered in a beneficial way, it can have financial implications for the rest of us,’ he said.

On multilateralism, Abrahms noted, ‘This administration places less emphasis on international institutions and multilateralism. It tends to view relationships as transactional rather than ideological…Multilateralism will still be a factor to the extent that it is seen by Washington as expedient. But the administration is not paying much lip service to it.’

On India’s position on conflicts, he said, ‘India takes counterterrorism very seriously. It has a very good understanding the dangers of terrorism and combatting. It is true that India remains ‘even-handed’ on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. From the vantage of Jerusalem, New Delhi is seen as a reliable and strong partner because of their mutual understanding of terrorism.’

Abrahms emphasized the importance of multilateral institutions like the Quad for US strategy toward China, stating, ‘The US economy although big is finite. These multilateral institutions like Quad are seeing important for the US to contain China.’