Former US national security official Lisa Curtis stated that getting India-US bilateral relations back on track is a top priority for both sides. She warned that tensions have escalated due to a lack of expertise around President Trump in his second term, amid trade disputes and disagreements over Pakistan and Kashmir. Curtis discussed these issues in detail on a recent podcast.
US-India relations were once regarded as one of Washington's most important strategic bets in the 21st century. However, over the past year, the partnership has faced serious strain from trade disputes, sharp rhetoric, and deep disagreements over Pakistan and Kashmir.
Lisa Curtis, director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, discussed the turbulent state of US-India ties on the Grand Tamasha podcast. Curtis co-authored an essay in Foreign Affairs with Richard Fontaine, arguing that the current rupture represents not just a rough patch but a potentially consequential turning point. She has over 20 years of service in the US government, including roles at the National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, State Department, and Capitol Hill.
Curtis explained, “The crisis in the India–US relationship is mostly about President Trump and who he has become in his second term. He’s very emboldened, he doesn’t look at situations from other countries’ points of view, and he expects other countries to do what he wants.” In Trump's first term, where Curtis served as Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council, experienced advisers shaped his foreign policy strategies. This time, “we don’t have that same depth of expertise surrounding him. We have a lot of yes-men—people shaping their advice based on what they think Trump wants to hear—and there’s an unwillingness to look seriously at what other countries care about and what their interests are.”
She noted that the downturn began with divergences over Trump's portrayal of his role in a May 2025 ceasefire between India and Pakistan, which India directly contradicted. “That kicked off the tensions in the relationship, and they’ve snowballed from there,” she suggested.
Curtis urged that restoring bilateral relations is an urgent priority. “India is a major country, and the decisions it takes and the direction it moves in will have a huge impact on the Indo-Pacific. Other countries in Southeast Asia look to India and are watching where India goes. India is part of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation—two organisations that Russia and China would love to see become stronger and help upend US global power and influence—and India can play a role in determining the direction those organisations go in,” she said. She warned that if “India seeks a more accommodationist role with China, the rest of the region will too—and that will undermine US global power and enhance China’s ability to become the hegemon it’s seeking to become.”
