NEW DELHI ¨C At a time when U.S. policy toward India has become distinctly punitive, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s warm reception of Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi last week could not have been more pointed.
Modi¡¯s message was clear: India is a sovereign power that will not be dragooned into choosing sides in a widening rift between ¡°the West and the rest.¡± Instead, it will continue to chart its own course in international affairs.
No major power is more vital to America¡¯s long-term strategic interests than India. It is, after all, the only country with the population size, geographical position and military might (including nuclear weapons) necessary to challenge China¡¯s efforts to dominate Asia and ultimately supplant the United States as a global hegemon.
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