US-India Security Partnership: An Analysis of Grand Strategy of Trump and Biden

Abstract

Grand Strategy is a basic strategic view and a detailed plan for a shared set of ideas among policymakers. Policy makers formulate a set of guiding principles to achieve a specific goal. In a comparative manner, this examines the contours of US grand strategy, with particular emphasis on the security policy towards India during the governments of President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. Both governments have consistently prioritised great power competition as a strategic objective within their respective grand strategies. China is a superpower with which the United States is competing: therefore, the grand strategy of the United States in terms of the national interest of countering China during the aforementioned eras steps up the security engagement with India despite having some fault lines in it. This study provides an explanation of how the US grand strategy, specifically its offshore balancing approach, heightened security engagement with India under both neo-conservatives have generally supported a strong India to counter China. Because they prioritise promoting democracy and American values globally, they see India as a potential strategic partner. While liberal imperialist regimes in the United States may be wary of India's human rights records, they also see India as a large democracy and a potential economic partner.