Fareed's Take: The damage is done: India will no longer trust America

America is often criticized for being short term in its orientation and quick to change course. In fact, Washington often shows a steely consistency in its foreign policy. Consider the strategic outreach to India that began during the Clinton administration and was expanded on in a bipartisan manner over 25 years. Until now, Donald Trump's sudden, inexplicable hostility toward India reverses policies pursued under five administrations, including his own previous one. If it holds, this reversal may be the biggest strategic mistake of the Trump presidency so far. After the Cold War, the U.S. began a sustained outreach toward India. President Clinton's visit in 2000 was hugely successful and opened up the possibility of a new, warm relationship between the two countries. The pivotal shift took place under George W Bush. His administration realized that a rising China was transforming the international system, and the single most important counterweight to China could be India. Then, the world's second most populous country, which was also beginning to reform economically and integrate with the world. A close relationship between Washington and New Delhi would be the key to preventing Chinese domination of Asia and securing America's interests in the region. The giant obstacle in the way of better U.S. India ties was India's nuclear weapons program. Washington had penalized India for this to preserve the global nonproliferation regime. The Bush administration decided that India should be treated like a great power, like France or Britain or China. It offered a historic deal that ended the isolation India had faced because of its news. That deal, expertly navigated on the Indian side by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, marked a watershed in the relations between the two countries. After that, things got closer. The Obama administration saw India as key to its pivot to Asia and supported New Delhi's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. He greatly increased trade between the two economies. The first Trump administration took an important leap forward politically. It elevated the quad, a defense oriented group of the U.S., Australia, Japan and India, and gave it more substance. Trump also embraced and promoted his personal relationship with Prime Minister Modi. President Biden built on the Trump legacy, forging greater cooperation in defense and economics.