Former US Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster on 30 June described people-to-people ties as the 'secret sauce' that has held the India-US relationship together through diplomatic turbulence, tracing bilateral connections from early American consulates on Indian soil to today's comprehensive global strategic partnership. Juster was speaking at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit in Washington.

A Relationship Older Than the Modern Alliance

Juster argued that the two nations had been meaningfully connected long before the term 'strategic partnership' entered diplomatic vocabulary. He noted that the United States established two of its earliest overseas diplomatic missions in India — in Calcutta in 1792 and Madras in 1794 — only a few years after opening its mission in Paris.

He also recalled that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had pressed Britain on Indian independence, and that Washington established relations with India's interim government in September 1946, more than 11 months before India formally became independent. 'No two nations so far apart geographically have been so closely connected as the United States and India,' Juster said.

Key Milestones in the Bilateral Journey

Juster traced the post-Cold War trajectory: the relationship gathered pace after India's 1991 economic reforms but hit a wall following India's 1998 nuclear tests. The subsequent diplomatic channel opened by US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh helped repair ties and laid the groundwork for President Bill Clinton's landmark 2000 visit to India.

President George W. Bush then sought to recast the relationship between what he called 'the world's oldest democracy' and 'the world's largest democracy', with high technology and the civil nuclear agreement becoming central pillars. Subsequent administrations built on that foundation — President Barack Obama designated India a major defence partner, the first Trump administration launched the 2+2 ministerial dialogue and revived the Quad at ministerial level, and President Joe Biden elevated Quad meetings to the leaders' level.

Juster noted that the second Trump administration has continued to advance defence cooperation and energy security with India while working toward a first-ever bilateral trade agreement.

Trade Growth and the $500 Billion Target

On the economic front, Juster pointed to a striking trajectory: bilateral trade in goods and services stood at $19 billion in 2001, when he served as Under Secretary of Commerce, and has since grown to nearly $250 billion. Both sides are now aspiring to reach $500 billion by the end of the decade. 'Completing a trade deal would greatly facilitate this,' he said.

Juster said the partnership now spans 'almost every area of human endeavour' — from defence, non-proliferation, and counter-terrorism to trade, healthcare, space, and the oceans.

The People Factor and the USISPF Book Launch

Juster reserved particular emphasis for the human dimension of the relationship, citing the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in 2019 and the 'Namaste Trump' event in Ahmedabad in 2020 as vivid expressions of public goodwill. He called the impact of more than 5 million Indian Americans on US economy and society 'immeasurable'.

His remarks preceded the launch of USISPF's coffee table book, We the People: 250 Voices That Have Shaped the U.S.-India Relationship, which honours individuals across centuries — from diplomacy, medicine, business, academia, and the arts — who helped shape bilateral ties. The volume follows USISPF's earlier work, We the People: 75 Years of US-India Relations, released in 2022. The new book arrives as the United States marks 250 years of independence and India deepens its global footprint.

As the bilateral trade target of $500 billion and a prospective trade agreement remain works in progress, the summit underlined that the India-US story is as much about its people as its governments.