Trump security plan urges improved India ties, continued Quad cooperation

Released last week, President Trump's security strategy calls for working with India to secure the Indo-Pacific, the South China Sea, and US interests in the Western Hemisphere

The United States (US) will seek to strengthen its relations with India—primarily on the commercial front—to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, according to US President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy released last week. The document also indicates that the quadrilateral (Quad) framework—and India’s continued participation in it—will remain on the agenda of the administration, which views China’s rise as a principal strategic challenge.

 

Comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia, the Quad—an informal security grouping—aims to promote an open, stable and inclusive Indo-Pacific. China, however, views it as an attempt at encirclement and dismisses it as a