Council on Foreign Relations | Manjari Chatterjee Miller
India's historical partnership with the United States advanced due to converging strategic interests, like countering China and economic alignment, rather than shared democratic ideals, which mainly served as background affinity. Recent accusations of democratic backsliding in both nations, particularly India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the second Trump administration, have reduced democratic values to a bilateral irritant. This article posits democratic values represent a crucial shared structural challenge for the fraying liberal international order. It reframes the inquiry to assess India's engagement with democratizing norms within the global system, beyond domestic report cards. Sarang Shidore highlights India's multialignment strategy to democratize global governance, creating synergy and friction. Kate Sullivan de Estrada maps India's selective participation in the liberal order’s security architecture, deepening cooperation while maintaining autonomy. Constantino Xavier examines India's potential as a democratic tech power, anchoring an alternative to China’s model, though jeopardized by Washington's retreat from democratic coalition-building. Assessing U.S.-India convergence requires focusing on their commitment to champion international democratic norms.