The US-India relationship has been burdened by mutual misgivings as of late. In Washington summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump displayed a comfortable chemistry, with no real discord to be seen – a departure from some of Trump’s other early diplomatic forays.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter visited Delhi in mid-April, and along with $14 billion in supposed defensive military items from the U.S., as well as a cancelled Beijing trip, unease has spread in China’s defense community. It appears that mutual concerns about China’s ambitions are principal driving force in the China-U.S. bilateral relationship.

The United States, India and China are all important players in Asia. It is unlikely that any two countries can unite and exclude a third party. Compatibility, rather than competition, is in the interest of all the three countries, writes Su Xiaohui.

Two news reports in late January suggested that India was becoming a more active participant in regional security issues. Ted Galen Carpenter discusses how a more assertive India could put the U.S. in a difficult situation.

Over the past decade, expectations have risen that India would be the next country to join the ranks of the world’s leading economic and strategic powers. However, despite Delhi’s reluctance to serve as a counter-balance to Beijing, there is little doubt that China-India-U.S. relations will be a major feature of international affairs in the coming years.