Asia & the Pacific

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Washington last week, making his fourth trip to the United States since taking office just two years ago. India and South Asia Program Fellow, Ronak Desai examines the strategic approach to India's relations with the United States.

It is far too early to count out President Obama as a foreign policy lame duck.

During last week's successful Asia trip, Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an important Climate Change agreement along with technology, visa and military transparency deals. This is a welcome sign that the US and China are capable of taking on tough challenges together.

But, there are other international obstacles ahead for Obama. Can he face down Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and find a way to reach a deal with Iran to block its nuclear ambitions?

Are we witnessing an Obama revival on foreign policy?

In this piece, Professor Burns presents one simple idea--President Obama has a second chance with Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to the White House this week to get India right--to make it a priority in the Asia Pivot strategy and for the future. There is a clear Washington consensus among Republicans and Democrats that India will be one of our most important 21st century global partners.

On the other hand, Obama has every reason to push Modi to adopt more responsible Indian policies on global trade, climate change, Russia and Iran.

A conversation with Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, led by Professor Nicholas Burns.

"I am an optimist when it comes to the relationship. That, if nothing else, explains my frequent involvement with it."

The Belfer Center's India & South Asia Program and Future of Diplomacy Project and the Harvard South Asia Institute co-sponsored a “Future of Afghanistan” conference on April 4-5 that brought together some of the key actors shaping Afghanistan's transition. Senior officials from the Afghan government, top U.S. diplomats and military figures, and leaders of non-governmental organizations debated prospects for stability, security and economic growth after 2014.

Nicholas Burns writes, "It has been a big idea in American foreign policy for over a decade: The United States would align its interests with a rapidly rising and democratic India to balance China’s burgeoning power in the vital Asia Pacific region. But that ambitious strategic bet depended on the critical assumption that the chaotic, poor, and struggling India of today would develop into the vibrant, wealthier, and more stable India of tomorrow that many of its admirers think it may yet become.

Professor Burns discusses India's political, economic and geographic importance to the United States and why it must be included in President Obama’s recent foreign policy pivot to Asia.