US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard capped off a two-day visit to India praising the "huge opportunities" for US-India ties, even as President Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy sets off alarm bells among Washington's partners around the world. 

Gabbard, the first high-level official from Trump's second administration to visit India, told a security conference in New Delhi this week that Trump's "commitment" to ensuring peace and security is rooted in "realism" and "pragmatism."

Speaking at the annual Raisina Dialogue, Gabbard said that like Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also committed to putting his country "first."

"But this should not be misunderstood to mean that America first is America alone," Gabbard said, using one of Trump's most-popular slogans. "The relationships we build together are critical to advance our mutual interests."

Trump's recent moves calling NATO security commitments into question, while embracing Russian narratives on Ukraine, have alienated Washington's traditional allies in Europe. In Asia, allies wonder if they can count on Washington in a conflict with China.

Gabbard, who is at the head of 18 US intelligence agencies, told the strategic conference that achieving peace "requires leaders who challenge the established view, or, the way things have always been done."

Is Modi really Trump's best friend in Asia?

During her remarks, Gabbard referred to Modi and Trump as "great friends." The leaders met last month in Washington for talks including trade and defense ties. After meeting Gabbard, Modi said in a statement that he looked forward to welcoming Trump to India later this year. Modi also joined Trump's social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday.

Commenting on Trump's threat to introduce more tariffs in early April, which would also affect India, Gabbard told the Indian news agency ANI there was "direct dialogue at the very top," and that Trump and Modi were working on solutions that take the economic interests of both countries into account.

In an online post, Modi said he and Gabbard discussed sharing commitments to "combating terrorism and enhancing maritime and cyber security cooperation."

Chietigj Bajpaee, senior fellow for South Asia at the London-based foreign policy think tank Chatham House, told DW that Gabbard's visit "indicates the priority that Washington is attaching to its relationship with India."

"While this is not new, the India-US relationship has acquired renewed momentum under Trump as he places less value on traditional partners while seeking to forge a coalition of like-minded countries," Bajpaee said.

The challenge of the Indo-Pacific

The US maintains a network of alliances in the Indo-Pacific, a strategic mega-region comprising the Indian Ocean around India, the South China Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean.

Gabbard is a former congresswoman from Hawaii who was born on the island of American Samoa. The US security chief is a practicing Hindu who has maintained ties with India, including as a member of the House India Caucus during her time in Congress. She has also faced criticism for her alleged support of the "Hindutva," or Hindu nationalist movement.

On Tuesday, she told reporters in New Delhi that the Indo-Pacific is the "geopolitical center of gravity for the 21st century."

"Ensuring peace and stability here is essential to our collective security, our objective of economic prosperity. We must tackle these challenges together," she said.

So far, language on the Indo-Pacific used by the Trump administration has remained consistent with that of the previous administration, with the State Department emphasizing the need to maintain a "free and open" region.  

The elephant in the room, which the US and its partners see as threatening this "free and open" Indo-Pacific, is China.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has built the world's largest navy by number of ships. Beijing also claims most of the South China Sea — a vital chokepoint for global trade — as China's territory.

Washington's long-term strategic priority is to keep Beijing from completely dominating the Indo-Pacific and maintain the free flow of international trade.

The US needs allies in the region but Trump is not known to value traditional multilateral alliance structures. His return to office has drawn attention as to whether Washington's alliances with Japan and South Korea are on stable ground.

Trump has also remained ambiguous on US commitments to defending Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province, even as Beijing increases pressure on the self-ruled island following the election of President Lai Ching-te.

In an interview with Bloomberg before the US election, Trump, in his typical transactional style, criticized Taiwan for not paying enough on defense to deter China.

India and US: Partnership with no strings attached?

Although India is not formally allied with the US, it does share an interest in containing China.

"India is neither an official US ally [like Japan or South Korea], nor is it a US adversary [like China]. As such, it neither faces allegations of 'not pulling its weight' that US allies are, nor does it pose an existential threat to the US' global power like China," Chatham House analyst Chietigj Bajpaee said.

This is reflected in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or "Quad," which comprises Australia and Japan along with the US and India. The platform allows for informal coordination of strategic approaches in the Indo-Pacific, without the binding commitments that come along with alliances.

"It appears that there is a renewed commitment to the Quad under the Trump administration, as indicated by the meeting of Quad foreign ministers shortly after Trump's inauguration," said Bajpaee.

"If anything, looser groupings like the Quad are preferred by the Trump administration over official alliance commitments such as NATO. There are some signs that the Trump administration may be seeking to pivot the Quad towards a greater focus on its security dimensions, but it is definitely not downgrading its engagement," he added.

Ahead of the strategy conference, Gabbard met with Modi and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh for what the minister described as "wide ranging talks that included cooperation on defense and intelligence."

During his talks with Gabbard, Defense Minister Singh also requested that the US label a Sikh separatist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), as a terrorist organization. In 2023, the US said Indian intelligence officers were behind a plot to assassinate an SFJ leader on US soil. India has denied involvement.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru