Since US President Donald Trump began his second term, relations between the United States and India have become increasingly tense. A report in Nikkei Asia on June 19 stated that as Trump seeks to ease relations with China, the U.S. Military's Indo-Pacific Command announced the restoration of its former name, "Pacific Command," putting new pressure on US-Indian relations. Indian analysts believe that Trump's decision to "distance" himself from India at this time may be an attempt to avoid provoking China.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, the US Pacific Command was renamed the Indo-Pacific Command, reflecting the significant role of India in US foreign and security strategy at that time. Experts generally believe that the United States can use India’s assistance to ‘check China’, and the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ formed by India, Australia, Japan, and the United States will enhance cooperation.
However, after Trump began his second presidential term in 2025, the US government’s attitude towards India changed significantly. Last year, Trump imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods exported to the United States. In February this year, the US and India reached a trade agreement. The US agreed to reduce the tariff rate to 18%. In exchange, India stopped purchasing Russian oil and reduced trade barriers.
Last week, while the U.S. Navy was closing the Strait of Hormuz, several vessels were attacked. The oil tanker MT Settebello, flying the flag of Palau, was hit by missiles in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, resulting in the death of three Indian crew members. India subsequently summoned the U.S. ambassador to India to lodge a strong protest regarding this attack.
On June 16th, local time, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command will resume its former name, "Pacific Command", but its responsibility area remains unchanged, still covering the waters off the west coast of the United States to the west of India. In the eyes of the outside world, this seems to imply a decline in the level of relations between the United States and India.
Indonesian geopolitical analyst Brahma Chellaney stated: “The Pentagon's decision to eliminate "Indian Ocean" and reinstate the name of the Pacific Command, coupled with the recent American national security strategy virtually ignoring India, naturally would prompt questions about the state of bilateral relations from the Indian side.”
He believes that with Trump’s decision to ease relations with China, and his attempt to use Pakistan to ‘prevent any single power from dominating the South Asian subcontinent’, US-India relations are no longer determined by a ‘common strategic vision’, but are defined by more forceful ‘interest transactions’.
Jiji Asia pointed out that Trump visited China in May, and Pakistan has played a crucial role in mediating the military conflicts between the United States and Iran. All these changes have caused tensions in India.
On June 17th, local time, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G7 summit.
Indian think tank observer research fund chairman Harsh V. Pant analyzed that although Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi met during this week's G7 summit, this did not mean US-India relations had fundamentally improved.
Pant said, “I believe the current issue in India-US relations is a lack of trust. Even after this meeting, it’s unclear whether trust can be restored. The killings of Indian crew members and the renaming of the Pacific Command by the United States have also weakened many Indians’ confidence in the United States. They doubt whether the United States will continue to cooperate with India.”
He claimed that although the name change does not affect the responsibilities of the U.S. Pacific Command, “in reality, when the name includes ‘Indian Ocean and Pacific’, India plays a central role in U.S. strategic thinking. Now that ‘Indian Ocean and Pacific’ has been changed, many believe this could be a signal that the United States wants to make concessions to China, in order to avoid provoking China.”
Trump and Modi met in France on the 17th, and Modi raised the issue of the safety of Indian crew members. However, Trump did not show any apology regarding the deaths of three Indian crew members by US military forces. He only responded, "I heard about this. Such incidents happen from time to time, but we have been working together. We love all these people; they are great people."
Speaking of defense relations between the United States and India, Trump said that if India were attacked, the United States would "help" India. "If someone attacks him (Modi), we will definitely take action... But if it's a new leader, I'm not sure."
Currently, the United States and India are preparing to sign a temporary trade agreement. The two sides originally planned to sign the agreement in March, but it was postponed after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s tariffs were illegal. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Green is scheduled to visit India next week to finalize the details of the temporary agreement and discuss a larger bilateral trade agreement.
Indian think tank Global Trade Research Initiative founder Ajay Srivastava believes that this may not be the right time to deepen relations between India and the United States. "Strategic and economic partnerships must be based on mutual respect and concern for each other's interests. Until the United States holds the Americans accountable for the deaths of Indian citizens and respects international law more, India should slow down the pace of deepening these relations."
