In many ways, the US reaction to the Indian crisis has been a god-send. It appears as a betrayal now, but imagine if this was done in an even worse situation - like in the midst of a war with China

This rough experience will ensure India will maintain a healthy level of skepticism in its future dealings with America. We need them as China is still next door. But we will not be trusting them to definitely have our backs

If the bride finds out right before the wedding that the groom is a womaniser, then its sad. But a bigger tragedy is averted

What is happening now is something similar.

India is in transition. It no longer relies on Russia for everything, is taking a lead on Quad and finally getting serious about its indigenous defense production

Getting into a tight embrace with America was a very attractive option till last week.

Now, it is likely the tight embrace will not longer be considered. We will of course hold hands but there will be the right amount of distrust for India to accelerate the #Atmanirbhar agenda

Also a good opportunity for the Indian government to start reflecting how much of the Biden administration response is being driven by what they read in NYT and Washington Post

The collumns in these papers are for sale and India should invest in them. There is little downside

The world's greatest role model on how to engage the Anglo-Saxon world is next door - China

We should consider copying their tactics - keep your head down, beg, borrow and steal to get rich and then act

How do you that in current context?

Actively engage American companies whose technology we need. Sideline the ones who don't bring anything new and yet benefit enormously from our market - e.g. Amazon, Netflix, fast food - we can already do these things, why do we need these American companies?

Covid is an extraordinary crisis - which brings so many opportunities with it for India to permanently change itself

For that to happen, it is extremely important we remember what we are experiencing currently. Because India's original permanent pandemic is our short memories