The growing global crisis over the spread of a deadly coronavirus from China — which, instead of quickly instituting public health warnings and containment measures, suppressed all information until faced with a raging epidemic — has helped obscure U.S. President Donald Trump's significant visit to India last week. The United States and India agreed during the visit to step up strategic collaboration, including with Japan.
Trump's standalone trip underscored how the expanding U.S.-India strategic partnership has become an important diplomatic asset for both countries. Trump's visit, like that of his predecessor Barack Obama five years ago, may not have yielded any major agreement, but it has set the direction toward greater Indo-American collaboration in the face of China's muscular rise and a strengthening Sino-Russian strategic nexus.
Trump summed up his trip as "unforgettable, extraordinary and productive." The visit will be remembered for his famous words at a mega-rally in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home city of Ahmedabad: "America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people." Modi, for his part, called the U.S.-India relationship "the most important partnership of the 21st century."