‘Here to stay’: US-India ties bound by ‘shared interests’, won’t be marred by recent incidents, analysts say

Washington’s concerns arose after the arrest of a senior Indian opposition politician last month, and ahead of India’s coming implementation of a religion-based citizenship law that critics say discriminates against followers of Islam and undermines India’s secular constitution.

The current US administration is concerned about India’s “slide into illiberalism”, but “while this injects some unease into the relationship, it doesn’t weaken it, much less impact its future trajectory”, said Michael Kugelman, director of Washington-based South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think tank.

“For all the rhetoric about a relationship with shared values, it’s the shared interests that drive the partnership,” Kugelman said.