In a landmark House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, American lawmakers unanimously declared the United States–India partnership “the defining relationship of the 21st century,” warning that without dramatically deeper military, intelligence, technological, and economic coordination with New Delhi, Washington stands no chance of containing an increasingly aggressive and expansionist China across the Indo-Pacific region.

Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga set the tone by asserting that Beijing’s rapid naval buildup, sustained military coercion along the Line of Actual Control, and systematic construction of dual-use ports designed to encircle and eventually control vital Indian Ocean sea lanes represent a direct threat to global stability, declaring that “a free and open Indo-Pacific is simply impossible without India as our indispensable partner.”

Expert witnesses lauded India as the only major power consistently delivering the “stiffest resistance” to Chinese pressure, citing New Delhi’s overnight TikTok ban, near-total freeze on Chinese investment following the 2020 Galwan clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers, joint US–India submarine tracking operations in the Indian Ocean, regular joint patrols in the South China Sea, and high-altitude warfare exercises in the Himalayas that have repeatedly checked Beijing’s territorial ambitions.

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Despite this unprecedented strategic convergence, lawmakers delivered a blistering critique of recent US trade actions, pointing out that Washington now imposes higher tariffs on Indian goods than on Chinese ones, with Ranking Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove issuing a stark warning that such punitive measures are inflicting “real and lasting damage” on trust and risk pushing a vital democratic ally toward neutrality or even adversary alignment.

The hearing closed with unanimous affirmation from all witnesses that India remains absolutely critical to the Quad’s effectiveness, to maritime deterrence, to emerging defence co-production initiatives, and to long-term supply-chain resilience, with experts urging immediate tariff relief and accelerated implementation of flagship agreements to safeguard a quarter-century of painstakingly built trust and realise the ambitious goal of $500 billion in annual bilateral trade by 2030.

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