The US is shifting its priorities both internally and externally. How should India recalibrate its strategic partnership with the US?

The US Department of Defense has been renamed the "Department of War". Legally this is only a secondary title, because the name in law stands until Congress changes it [1]. The rename signals a Washington that is becoming more combative, more inward-looking and more transactional. India must recalibrate the partnership rather than step back from it, because it remains central to India's interests.

Shifts in US priorities

• Internal churn: At Quantico on 30 September 2026, Secretary of War Hegseth confirmed a 20% cut in generals and admirals and a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command [2]. Turnover at the top can slow programmes run with partners.
• External overstretch: The Iran war has driven a supplemental funding request of nearly $88 billion [3]. This pulls money and attention towards West Asia and away from the Indo-Pacific.
• Transactional linkage: A 25% penalty duty on Indian goods over Russian oil was lifted only after India committed to stop those imports and expand defence cooperation [4]. Trade, energy and security are now bargained together.

How India should recalibrate

• Build on institutions, not personalities: Implement the 10-year Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership (Kuala Lumpur, October 2025). It covers technology cooperation, supply-chain integration, interoperability and joint exercises [5], so ties can survive changes in US personnel.
• Put technology first: Use the US push into drones and autonomous systems [2] for co-development and co-production with Indian industry, in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• Diversify to hedge: Use the RAKSHA defence-diplomacy roadmap of September 2026 [6]. Its pillars (strategic partnerships, capacity building, defence exports and maritime security) can deepen ties with France, Japan, Australia and ASEAN.
• Keep issues separate: Negotiate trade on its own track so that tariffs do not become levers over India's energy and defence choices [4].
• Fill the Indo-Pacific gap: As US attention shifts westward [3], India should act as net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region [6] and keep the Quad focused on practical goals.

A more inward, transactional and war-focused US calls for a partnership anchored in institutions and technology rather than in personal ties. By pairing the 10-year framework with the wider engagement planned under RAKSHA, India can turn US volatility into leverage. This keeps faith with its strategic autonomy and its vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.