Narendra Modi’s decision to invite Barack Obama to India’s Republic Day celebrations is a significant diplomatic move. No American president has ever attended this event. By accepting the invitation, Obama has demonstrated willingness to work with Modi in upgrading ties. Also, he will become the first serving US president to have visited India twice. But can this take Indo-US strategic cooperation to the next level?

There are both structural and peripheral problems in Indo-US ties. While issues that can be resolved bilaterally — such as US complaints about India’s patents regime and the nuclear liability law, New Delhi’s position on food subsidies at WTO and concerns on immigration — make up the peripheral challenges, geopolitical issues such as the China factor and US ties with Pakistan are structural problems. Unless these issues are meaningfully tackled, an enduring partnership between the US and India seems impossible. Modi seems to be focused on addressing the peripheral issues first. The recent WTO deal between India and the US is a step in this direction. Modi had agreed to set up an “annual high-level Intellectual Property working group”, which will give the US a platform to discuss India’s IP practices. By inviting Obama to visit India again, the Centre is trying to build on this momentum.

It remains to be seen if the leaders are prepared to address structural issues. But what’s significant is that the Modi government is finally revealing its policy priorities. There were questions as to whether the Prime Minister would re-orient India’s foreign policy towards the East by shunning the US. But with this move, Modi has indicated strongly that Indo-US cooperation is here to stay, and likely to improve, at a time when the US is in decline and its rivalry with China and Russia is on the rise.

Stanly Johny is Assistant Editor

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