May 21, 2026
Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, ORF America spoke with Palak Shah of Business World on the reality behind the U.S.-India relationship, and why geopolitics is ultimately about leverage, systems, and survival — not sentiment:
Q: Building on that, the recent India-US trade agreement has been described as a “mini-deal” that reduces tariffs and buys time. Is this primarily a tactical pause, or does it create genuine momentum toward the long-discussed $500 billion bilateral trade target?
A: Trade between India and the United States has been growing and will continue to grow regardless, especially as key Indian industries and services come into their own. The interim trade deal is itself in limbo due to legal uncertainties in the U.S. but the outline of a more comprehensive trade agreement is already in place. Once there is greater clarity about the United States’ overall trade policy, it will likely be concluded. But it is very different from the FTAs India is signing with others, such as the UK and EU, due to the lack of U.S. legislative authority. It is unlikely that a U.S. president will receive trade promotion authority from the U.S. Congress any time soon.
Q: How do you see the balance between reciprocity and strategic trust in the current India-US dynamic? Has Washington shifted toward treating India more as a genuine partner, or do we still see elements of the old “transactional” mindset?
A: It's quite clear that the U.S. has always been transactional and is becoming more so. Strategic trust, insofar as it exists, is mostly a product of transparency of systems and autonomous actors (such as the private sector) who can operate independently of the executive government. These factors are what distinguishes both the U.S. and India from, say, the People’s Republic of China.