‘Here to stay’: US-India ties bound by ‘shared interests’, won’t be marred by recent incidents, analysts say

Washington’s concerns arose after the arrest of a senior Indian opposition politician last month, and ahead of India’s coming implementation of a religion-based citizenship law that critics say discriminates against followers of Islam and undermines India’s secular constitution.

The current US administration is concerned about India’s “slide into illiberalism”, but “while this injects some unease into the relationship, it doesn’t weaken it, much less impact its future trajectory”, said Michael Kugelman, director of Washington-based South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think tank.

“For all the rhetoric about a relationship with shared values, it’s the shared interests that drive the partnership,” Kugelman said.

Kejriwal, leader of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, was arrested on March 21 on allegations of corruption linked to an alleged alcohol excise scam. Several other senior members of his party have also been arrested in relation to the case.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs lodged a “strong objection” over the US diplomat’s remarks and chided the US for not being “respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others”.

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Why India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is so controversial

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said on March 15 that the US “can’t give up on principles”, adding that the principle of religious freedom and equality was a cornerstone of democracy.

Just days before Biden’s letter, the US Embassy in India invited several Kashmiris for an iftar celebration, prompting members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to say the US had crossed a “red line”.

Many of those invited to the embassy had opposed New Delhi’s 2019 decision to revoke Article 370, a law that granted special autonomous