New Delhi: Biden era is over and while history will judge its wider implications, here is a lowdown of how India- US ties fared under his presidency. Joe Biden took charge on 20th January 2021 and left the office on 19th January 2025. With him at the helm in Washington, there were some big-ticket developments in India-US ties, but a lot of irritants as well. The overall trajectory remained positive, something that started with Bill Clinton's India visit in 2020 and continued to see increased engagement in successive Bush, Obama, Trump administrations.
2020
With the Democrat winning the 2020 US elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Biden and vice president Kamala Harris on social media. On 17 November, 2020 PM Modi had a telephone conversation with President Biden as they agreed to work closely to further advance the India-U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and discussed their priorities, including containing the Covid-19 pandemic, promoting access to affordable vaccines, tackling climate change, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region.
2021
It was a significant year, as Quad, a grouping of US, India, Australia and Japan was elevated to summit level after years of working at officials' and foreign minister's level. For China, it was a big development, with four like-minded countries of the Indo-Pacific region coming together. The first summit took place virtually on 12th March, followed by an in-person summit in Washington on 24th September. PM Modi travelled to Washington for the Quad summit and met US President Biden, which was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders in a COVID year. During the visit, the US Government handed over 157 stolen Indian artifacts. PM Modi and President Biden also engaged on the sidelines of G20 Rome Summit and COP26 Glasgow summit. The Indian Navy formally took over the first two of its MH-60R Multi Role Helicopters (MRH) from the US Navy in a ceremony in San Diego on 16 July 2021. Since 2021 was a Covid year, both US and India worked with each other on dealing with the pandemic. The US had provided India medical supplies, vaccines, and oxygen support when India was hit by the deadly second wave of COVID. In Afghanistan, as the Taliban took over the country, both worked with each other, from UN to evacuation.
2022
Both leaders met on the sidelines of Quad summit in Japan. They also interacted on the sidelines of the G7 Germany summit and G20 Bali summit. The engagement was undertaken at India, US 2+2 meet and first I2U2 meet.
2022 was the year of the start of the Russia -Ukraine war, which had global implications. As the West, led by the US, announced sanctions on Russia, India emerged as the biggest importer of Russian energy. While India was criticised by Washington, as the months passed, the criticism became muted. That year, the then US deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh saw a lot of controversy. During his Delhi visit, he warned of "consequences" for violating US sanctions against Russia. His visit came just before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's India visit.
2023
It was a breakout year for ties. PM Modi visited the US on a state visit, while US President Biden travelled to India for the G20 summit. The iCET initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies was formally launched. Both leaders also engaged on the sidelines of the G7 and Quad Hiroshima summit. That year saw India signing to the Artemis Accords, MoU on HAL GE F-414 deal, launch of the US-India Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), announcement on India’s plans to procure General Atomics MQ-9B HALE UAVs, "Innovation Handshake”, resolution of WTO disputes, semiconductor cooperation, Pakistan being slammed for its support to terror, MoU on recovery from India of the remains of fallen US service members who served in World War II among many things.
On the sidelines of the G20 Delhi summit, India and the US, along with other countries, launched the India Middle East Europe corridor, a key project that connects India to Europe via the Arab world.
But 2023 was also when ties were hit as US prosecutors claimed Indian involvement in an alleged plot to kill US national India-listed terrorists Gurpatwant Singh Pannun even as the India-Canada diplomatic row was underway over the killing of a Khalistani separatist. Following the allegations from the US about an Indian government employee's involvement in a plot to assassinate Pannun, a high-powered inquiry committee was set up by the Indian government. This committee was tasked with investigating the inputs provided by the United States concerning an alleged assassination plot against Pannun. Two names - Nikhil Gupta and Vikash Yadav - cropped up as the investigations proceeded, and next year, it dominated the public conversation on ties. Open Khalistani threats against the Indian diplomatic mission and diplomats became a big issue. The Indian consulate in San Francisco was smoke-bombed. India called for action against attackers, and the US condemned the attack.
2024
The year saw the shadow of the Pannun killing plot but continued engagement as well. PM Modi again travelled to the US in September, but this time for the Quad Delaware summit. He held a bilateral meeting with President Biden in his home state of Delaware and addressed the diaspora. Coopeartion on ICET, semiconductors and people-to-people engagement continued but also concerns of Khalistani extremists like Pannu and alleged Indian links over attempts to kill him remained sore points. Add to this the US prosecutors charging one of India's richest persons. The charges were against Gautam Adani, his relative Sagar Adani, and others over alleged conspiracy to pay over $265 million in bribes to secure solar energy supply contracts.
2025
As the Biden Presidency ended, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's last international visit was to India, during which it was announced that three Indian entities, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre (IGCAR) and the Indian Rare Earths (IRE), will be removed from US restrictive list to spur India-US civil nuclear cooperation. Sullivan briefed the Indian side on updates to US missile export control policies under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to boost US commercial space cooperation with India. A high-powered inquiry committee, set up by the Indian government on US claims regarding Indian links to attempted killing of Pannun, recommended legal action against an individual identified during their inquiry. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) confirmed that the committee had investigated and recommended action, though they didn't name the individual explicitly in public statements.