Bethany Morrison, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia at the US State Department, on 25 September 2026 described the US-India partnership as growing in both 'scale and breadth', with the energy sector serving as the clearest illustration of deepening bilateral ties. Speaking at a briefing for reporters in New York, Morrison highlighted a dramatic shift in India's LPG sourcing and flagged fresh momentum in civil nuclear cooperation.

America Becomes India's Largest LPG Supplier

The most striking data point from Morrison's remarks: US LPG exports to India surged from under 10 per cent of India's total imports last year to 67 per cent through August 2026. The catalyst was the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint through which a large share of India's Gulf-sourced LPG had traditionally flowed.

'We're now very proudly the largest exporter of LPG to India,' Morrison said. The shift underscores how geopolitical disruption in the Middle East has accelerated India's energy diversification away from Gulf dependence — a strategic goal New Delhi had long identified but struggled to operationalise at scale.

Even if conditions in the Gulf stabilise, India reportedly targets sourcing at least 25 per cent of its LPG supply from the US next year, signalling that the diversification is not merely reactive but structural.

SHANTI Act Opens Nuclear Cooperation Pathway

Morrison also cited 'exciting new developments' in civil nuclear cooperation, pointing to India's passage of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act in December. She described it as the first reform of India's nuclear regulatory environment in 20 years.

The SHANTI Act opens India's nuclear sector to private participation and revises liability rules that had long been cited as a barrier to foreign investment and US-India civilian nuclear collaboration. 'Now we're moving forward on some really exciting new developments in civil nuclear cooperation,' Morrison said.

This comes amid a broader global push for nuclear energy as countries seek low-carbon baseload power, with several US firms reportedly eyeing opportunities in India's expanded civilian nuclear market.

Defence Framework Adds Strategic Depth

Beyond energy, Morrison highlighted the 10-year Defence Framework Agreement signed last year by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth as another marker of deepening ties. The agreement covers interoperability between the two countries' weapon systems, joint defence manufacturing, intelligence sharing, and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.

The framework is seen as a significant upgrade to the defence relationship, moving beyond episodic arms sales toward institutionalised cooperation across the full spectrum of security needs.

Trump Administration Pivots Attention to South Asia

Morrison also noted that US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to pay greater attention to South Asia, a region she called 'critical' but historically under-resourced in terms of US diplomatic focus.

'It's often a region that historically gets overlooked until there's a crisis because of all, everything else, happening in the world — from what's happening in Latin America to Africa to the Middle East, and then obviously land wars in Europe,' she said. The remarks suggest a deliberate recalibration of US foreign policy bandwidth toward the subcontinent, with the US-India relationship likely to serve as its anchor.

With energy, nuclear, and defence threads all tightening simultaneously, the trajectory of the partnership heading into the next few years will hinge on how quickly new frameworks — the SHANTI Act in particular — can be translated into on-the-ground projects.