Despite political frictions over trade and strategic divergences, India–U.S. institutional cooperation has continued to deepen. Analyse the factors that sustain this 'parallel track' in bilateral ties.

Q. Despite political frictions over trade and strategic divergences, India–U.S. institutional cooperation has continued to deepen. Analyse the factors that sustain this 'parallel track' in bilateral ties. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India–U.S. ties, upgraded to a Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership in 2023 [1], displayed a paradox in 2025: steep tariffs, a postponed Quad Leaders' Summit and a U.S.–Pakistan reset coexisted with an expanding defence-technology agenda. Analysing the drivers reveals why the institutional track runs independently of political weather.

Institutional architecture below the summit level - The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, and iCET's routing through the two National Security Councils, place cooperation in standing bureaucratic channels rather than leader-level goodwill [1][2]. - The 10-year Framework for the U.S.–India Major Defence Partnership, signed at Kuala Lumpur in October 2025 — at the height of tariff friction — locks in a decade-long policy direction [3].

Convergent structural interests - A shared Indo-Pacific balancing logic and India's Major Defence Partner status, a category unique to India, give both sides a stake insulated from episodic disputes [1]. - Quad working-level and ministerial engagement continued even as the leaders' summit slipped, showing delay rather than collapse.

Defence-industrial and technology stakes - iCET/TRUST spans AI, quantum, semiconductors, space and biotechnology; INDUS-X links defence start-ups and iDEX to U.S. counterparts [2]. - The GE F-414 engine co-production deal for Tejas Mk-2 converts a buyer–seller relationship into shared industrial equity that neither side can cheaply abandon [2].

Economic interdependence - The Bilateral Trade Agreement talks, launched March 2025 under the "Mission 500" goal of $500 billion trade by 2030, continued through successive rounds despite tariff acrimony, culminating in a joint statement in February 2026 [4][5].

Frictions persist — tariffs, U.S. export-control limits and India's Russian energy purchases — but they operate on the political track alone.

The parallel track therefore reflects institutionalisation, not sentiment: durable mechanisms, converging technology interests and mutual industrial dependence. Sustaining it requires converting the trade negotiation into a stable settlement, so that the economic track finally aligns with the strategic one — consistent with India's strategic autonomy and its search for reliable technology partnerships.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. India–US Bilateral Relations Brief, MEA (January 2025) — Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership, Major Defence Partner status, 2+2 Dialogue 2. Joint Fact Sheet: The United States and India Continue to Expand Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership, MEA — iCET domains, INDUS-X, GE F-414 co-production 3. Raksha Mantri & US Secretary of War meet on the margins of 12th ADMM-Plus in Kuala Lumpur, PIB (31 October 2025) — 10-year Framework for the US–India Major Defence Partnership 4. India–U.S. Trade Talks in New Delhi Conclude, PIB (March 2025) — launch of BTA negotiations, "Mission 500" $500 billion target 5. United States–India Joint Statement, PIB (February 2026) — continuation and outcome of trade negotiations