India-US Ties Are Ready for New Beginning, Pakistan Monkey off Their Backs
Since erstwhile Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the US has looked at India through the prism of Pakistan due to its commitments in Afghanist
Editorial Staff
India-US Ties Are Ready for New Beginning, Pakistan Monkey off Their Backs
Both countries will have shed the monkey called Pakistan off their backs when Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Joe Biden at the White House later this month, as American direct engagement with the Af-Pak region has ended since the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the winter of 1979. The bilateral relationship between India and the United States has been tainted by American involvement in Afghanistan for the past four decades, and the equation remained largely hyphenated until US Navy Seals gunned down Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden near a Pakistan Army cantonment in Abbottabad in May 2011. In the meantime, Washington's strategy towards India was mainly defined by its obligations in the Af-Pak area, as Rawalpindi was required to combat the Soviet Union during the Cold War and then Al Qaeda and the Taliban after 9/11 attacks. Washington strategists saw the India-US bilateral relationship through this lens, and tactical changes were made in favour of Rawalpindi GHQ. Ev…
