US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s two-day visit to Delhi signifies a new recognition of India as a global player in matters of peace and conflicts in the world. On the eve of this visit, Tillerson addressed the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a leading think tank based in Washington, where he affirmed the American view of India as a strategic partner in dealing with a geo- politically aggressive China and also talked of a major role for India in restoring peace in Afghanistan.

What is equally significant is that he put Pakistan on the leash on the question of its role in fomenting cross-border terrorism against its neighbours and thus addressed the concerns of many strategic analysts, who had felt that the US Secretary of Defence James Mattis’ offer of ‘one more chance’ to Pakistan to prove its bona fide in the fight against Islamic radicals, would only open the way for the Pak army to once again try to dupe the Americans on the issue. Tillerson’s categorical statement that Pakistan was on test in the matter of ‘decisive action’ against terror groups operating from its soil also showed that President Trump’s appreciation of Pakistan for getting an American citizen and her family released from the captivity of Haqqani group, did not detract from the tough American stand against the country on issues of terror. This would help the growth of Indo-US relations to the long-term advantage of both the countries.

In Washington, Tillerson dwelt on a joint world vision of the US and India by describing the two nations as the two “bookends of stability — on either side of the globe standing for greater security and prosperity of their citizens as well as the people around the world”. He talked of greater cooperation with India to tackle global threats and challenges such as ensuring a ‘free and open’ Indo-Pacific in the face of a ‘predatory China’ and envisaged the expansion of trilateral engagement between the US, Japan and India to include countries such as Australia to secure the region. He declared that security issues that concerned India also concern the US and in projecting the growing defence ties with India highlighted the ‘menu of defence options’ that the US has offered to India.

From India’s point of view the way Indo-US relations have shaped in the time of Prime Minister Modi and President Trump is totally in tune with India’s  security and economic interests since they help to deal with the Sino- Pak axis on one hand and avoid coming in the way of India’s relations with other friendly powers such as Russia, on the other. Trump administration has given a deeper meaning to its friendship with India by accepting a total de-hyphenation of India’s role in Afghanistan from Pakistan’sclaim that it needed a dominant say on Afghanistan to retain its ‘strategic depth’ there.The US has seen through the dubious role of Pak army-ISI combine in keeping cross-border terrorist violence alive in Afghanistan by not pinning down Islamic radicals operating from its own side of the Pak-Afghan border. In spite of the ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan led by the US after 9/11, Pakistan agencies remained maintained covert ties with Al Qaeda-Taliban and used this as a political instrument to stay relevant in Afghan affairs. Pakistan got away with a lot of duplicitous tactics  in the Obama regime. Trump presidency evidently, had no patience to put up with Islamic extremism and no intention of avoiding condemnation of Islamic terror out of any need to be ‘politically correct’ as was happening in the earlier dispensation.

One hopes Tillerson’s India visit works for defining US-India grid as a prime mover for global security and peace in the years to come. In his Washington address, Tillerson projected India as a partner for peace in Afghanistan and stated that this was part of President Trump’s new South Asia strategy, given how US and India are jointly screening known and suspected terrorists and initiating a new dialogue on terrorist designations. Around the same time Nikky Haley, US ambassador to UN told Washington-based Indo-US Friendship Council that the US needed India’s help in keeping an eye on the doings of Pakistan in Afghanistan. The US has appreciated India’s offer of fully aiding the reconstruction of Afghanistan. All of this is pushing Pakistan into a corner — the refuge of Pak army in the Chinese camp really not helping the former in any way.

Also, Tillerson warned China against any misadventure, declared that Indo-Pacific had the primacy in US grand strategy with US-India partnership playing a pivotal role in securing this maritime region, and endorsed India’s disapproval of China Pakistan Economic Corridor on the ground that it was an attempt to subvert the sovereignty of a neighbouring country. It is expected that Tillerson’s visit will further concretise US-India measures to deal with the threat posed to the world by the military alliance of China and Pakistan.

It goes to the credit of the Modi government that Indo-US relations under its watch have expanded beyond the bilateral to embrace into a multilateral understanding based on convergence on global issues of security and economic import. This will guarantee advancement of India’s interests. India is now looked upon as the most important strategic partner of the US in South Asia and beyond on the basis of shared values, and this is a complete turnaround in the geo-political situation of India — considering what was obtained in the years before Trump. American policy makers were earlier stuck on regarding Pakistan as an ally in spite of that country’s known misdemeanours including a clandestine fostering of terror outfits, fraudulent tactics in Afghanistan and military collaboration with China against the interests of the entire democratic world.

The international community must now hold the Pak army accountable for giving a free run to global terrorists and thus jeopardising world peace. A situation may arise where some terror outfit gains access to Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons taking advantage of the growing radicalisation in the ranks of the Pak army. American funding of Pakistan only enriched the Pak army leadership and added to the asymmetry of civil-military equation there. It is futile to hope that democracy can return to Pakistan any time soon. The global effort therefore should be on putting curbs on the Pak army before it turns into a rogue institution given to fostering faith-based militancy and spreading  terror in the name of Islam.