Trump’s return has unsettled world leaders. But not India.

In the past year, a pair of legal bombshells have posed the biggest challenge yet to India’s burgeoning relationship with the United States.

As the two sides announce an unprecedented expansion in defense and technology, US prosecutors have accused Indian government agents of conspiring to kill an American citizen on US soil.

Months later, the Justice Department filed fraud and bribery charges against the prominent Indian businessman.

Still the connection is made. Eric Garcetti, the US ambassador to India, said that after decades of mutual suspicion between the two countries, the fact that nothing can now stand in the way of their relationship is a testament to their strength.

“I don’t think there is anything major that threatens the US-India relationship,” Mr. Garcetti said in an interview at the embassy in New Delhi on Saturday, two days before President Biden resigned. J. Trump was sworn in as his successor.

“This is incredibly strong and inevitable,” Mr. Garcetti added. “Obviously the momentum and the momentum is inevitable, the faster we get there.”

The Biden administration’s doubling down on relations with India comes after nearly two decades of efforts to dispel Cold War-era suspicions in the wake of US sanctions on India’s nuclear program in 1998.

Washington is seeing great potential in India as a geopolitical counterweight to China. World’s largest democracy India will overtake China in world population by 2023. India’s demographic advantages and technological capabilities could help its growing global supply chain differentiate itself from China, the United States and other major powers.

Now comes Mr. Trump’s second term as president, with an America-first orientation and threats of heavy tariffs on trading partners. While leaders of many countries are undeterred, Indian officials insist they are not among them.

According to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, India has maintained good political relations with Trump. Inaugurating the US consulate in the technology hub of Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore, on Friday, Mr Jhashankar said Mr Modi said the two countries were overcoming “the hesitancy of history”.

Mr. Modi has forged a strong relationship with Mr. Trump, largely due to the incoming president’s personal approach to international relations. During Mr. Trump’s first term, Mr. Modi hosted a large rally in his home state of Gujarat as well as a large gathering of the Indian diaspora in Texas — an extension of India’s growing influence in American politics.

But some analysts have warned that Mr Trump’s unpredictable and transactional approach could pose a threat to India.

Two issues in particular will inevitably test the relationship, and probably soon. During the campaign, Mr Trump criticized India for gaining an unfair trade advantage by maintaining high tariffs. And if Mr. Trump follows through on his promise to deport illegal immigrants en masse, India could find itself embroiled in controversy.

Indians make up the third largest group of illegal immigrants in the United States, according to the 2015 Census Pew Research middle. It could be a huge embarrassment for Mr. Modi if Mr. Trump deports a large number of Indians.

Amita Batra, an economics and trade expert in New Delhi, said India should see warning signs that Mr Trump is threatening to impose higher tariffs even on traditional US allies, as well as his willingness to deal with deals with countries such as Mexico and Canada. He placed his first administration.

“You can say we have a good relationship with Trump, we have an easy relationship with the United States, but how Trump views it is a different question at some point,” Dr. Batra said at an event at the Social Center. and economic growth in New Delhi. India should approach Trump 2.0 with caution.

During the interview, Mr. Garcetti described the bilateral relationship as “very compelling, challenging and consequential” for both countries.

Mr. Garcetti, the former Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, arrived in New Delhi in April 2023, after the mission had been without an ambassador for two years. The confirmation process hit a wall when an aide was accused of ignoring sexual harassment complaints while mayor.

He made up for lost time with energy and service as a politician in a campaign setting.

From cricket grounds to cafeterias to cultural programs, it was everywhere. Sporting a leather jacket, he got behind the piano to open for jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Dianne Reeves who came to perform at the Piano Man Jazz Club in New Delhi..

But when Mr. Garcetti tried his hand Dance to viral Bollywood tunes The relationship between the two countries has hit a major snag during the Diwali celebrations.

Right-wing trolls in India have seized on US allegations that the Indian government is involved in a plot to kill an American separatist in India. That, along with the US indictment of business mogul Gautam Adani, is evidence that the US is trying to undermine India’s inevitable growth, national online voices argue.

The Biden administration appeared intent on discussing the killing quietly with New Delhi, demanding accountability without letting it become a major diplomatic sore point.

“On Capitol Hill, in the White House, I think with those who know, there was a real moment of reflection and rest,” Mr. Garcetti said of the assassination. He didn’t stop the momentum – you know, relations between countries are always multifaceted and simultaneous, not just between governments. But I think it’s a colon exam right away.

Mr. Garcetti said the Biden administration was comforted by India’s response. New Delhi has accepted the US demand, “not only for accountability, but for system reform and guarantees that this will not happen again,” he said.

An Indian government inquiry concluded last week recommended legal action against an unidentified man with “prior criminal links”. He said the action “must be completed quickly,” which analysts see as an attempt to start the Trump era on a clean slate.

“If we want to cooperate in other areas that are important to us, intelligence sharing and other issues, trust is the foundation of everything,” Mr. Garcetti said. But I’m really pissed off thinking how to boost confidence in exams.

One question that looms over deepening ties between the two countries is whether India can emerge as an alternative to China in global supply chains — something Mr. Garcetti also wondered about.

India has captured only a small fraction of the windfalls away from China, with businesses preferring places like Vietnam, Taiwan and Mexico, where it is easier to set up operations and where tariffs are lower.

According to Mr. Garcetti, after opening up its economy, India has seen remarkable growth only in the 1990s, years behind China. He held up his iPhone to demonstrate his widely publicized recent success: 15 percent of iPhone production now happens in India, a figure he says could continue to grow rapidly.

Broadly speaking, India has struggled to attract foreign investment despite improvements in infrastructure and some regulatory reforms. Manufacturing is not growing fast enough to bring the jobs India so desperately needs.

“India has left a lot of progress, jobs and growth on the table, it’s creating a better way to make it seamless and seamless,” Mr Garcetti said. Because it’s still, you know, for a lot of manufacturing components, one, if not all, of the highly tariffed economies.

Mr Garcetti said: “They are not wrong to say that it was 95 per cent worse before. But if that 5 percent is still double your competitor’s or 10 times your competitor’s – companies, you know, are like water. They flow where gravity takes them.”