Episode 20: Namaste, Trump
On Monday, President Donald Trump and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi inked a new defense deal as violence escalated in response to Modi’s controversial Citizen Amendment Act. Over 3 billion dollars’ worth of American-made helicopters and military equipment will go to the Indian armed forces. What interests are being served by this defense deal, and how will India use this new weaponry? Mark Hannah sits down with two leading experts on US-India relations to unpack American and Indian security interests in the region, including shared concern about a rising China in the Indo-Pacific. Is India a reliable security partner for the United States? And will we see any blowback in nearby Pakistan, China, or Kashmir, as a result of this deal? Dhruva Jaishankar is the director of the US Initiative at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation. He is the author of the 2019 report, “Acting East: India In The Indo-Pacific.” Aparna Pande is the director of the Hudson Institute’s Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia. Her latest book is titled From Chanakya to Modi: Evolution of India’s Foreign Policy.