C Raja Mohan & Hernaikh Singh 
BIDEN AND BEYOND: THE UNITED STATES RETHINKS SOUTH ASIA [EPUB ebook] 
The United States Rethinks South Asia

Biden and Beyond: The United States Rethinks South Asia captures the significant transitions unfolding in the US policy towards South Asia. Developed across two administrations, led by Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the US’ South Asia policy has moved away from more than four decades of focus on Afghanistan, especially after the military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, to now viewing the region through the Indo-Pacific prism. The military withdrawal has also undermined the US’ long-standing strategic partnership with Pakistan that was viewed as the frontline state in dealing with the turmoil in Afghanistan. This has substantially altered Washington’s geopolitical perspective of the South Asian subcontinent.

Furthermore, the rising concerns in Washington on China have seen the formulation of an Indo-Pacific strategy that has elevated India to the top of US strategic priorities. The deepening tensions between China and the US, as well as between Beijing and Delhi, have set the stage for a new strategic partnership between Washington and Delhi. Amidst Washington’s competition with Beijing, the Himalayan region girding the underbelly of China has acquired an importance of its own. The maritime perspective of the US has also raised the value of the subcontinent’s waters and provided an incentive for Washington to turn new attention to the strategic islands of the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Taken together, these factors presage a transformation in the interaction between the US and the South Asian subcontinent in the coming years. This book, hence, brings into the conversation these recent changes and sheds new light on contemporary US-South Asia relations.

Contents:

• Preface


• The United States and South Asia: New Thinking (C Raja Mohan and Hernaikh Singh)


• The Biden Reset: Implications for South Asia (Monish Tourangbam)


• India at the Centre, Small States In and Af-Pak Out: Understanding Biden’s South Asia Policy (Yogesh Joshi and Devyani Chaturvedi)


• Carving a Relationship: The United States and the Taliban’s Afghanistan (Javid Ahmad and Marvin G Weinbaum)


• Reflections on United States–Pakistan Relations, Post-American Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Michael Kugelman)


• Nepal and Bhutan: The United States Returns to the Himalayas (Nishchal N Pandey)


• United States–Bangladesh Relations since Joe Biden’s Assumption of Office (Farooq Sobhan)


• The United States and Sri Lanka: Winning Back Colombo (Asanga Abeyagoonasekera)


• The United States and the Maldives: Setting Strategic Ties (Amit Ranjan)


• Beyond Biden: India–United States Relations (S D Muni)


• United States–India Trade Relations: The IPEF and Beyond (Amitendu Palit)


• Indian Americans: Visibility and Influence (Seema Sirohi)


• About the Editors


• About the Contributors


• Index

Readership: Academics with a focus on South Asian Studies; Researchers with a focus on South Asian Studies; Policymakers and those in the Private sector/industry.

Key Features:

• There has been a change in the US’ foreign policy orientation in the South Asian region under the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations and in view of the changing global landscape. The book will offer valuable perspectives on the many significant changes the US regional policy that have unfolded under the Trump and Biden administrations


• The papers will offer new and fresh perspectives of US foreign policy imperatives in South Asia including the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, a reset in the relations with Pakistan, deeper ties with India with a new strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific, among others