And why is it that so many on DFI are in love with Putin?
Few things on top on mind:
1) US' relentless love affair with Pakis & Chinis (regardless of who resides in White House).
2) Nixon-Kissinger's notorious role in 1971 (think, USS Enterprise Seventh Fleet) & overlooking/condoning the largest ever genocide (of Bangla) after WWII (on the scale of Nazi cleansing of Jews/lesser-Germans). This memory lingers & ensures that US can NEVER be trusted.
3) Cultivating & sustaining Frankenstein terrorists regimes that refuse to serve their creators & run amok.
4) Inability of Pentagon & thinktanks to go beyond their cold-war mindset. "With us or against us" won't get you anywhere with India.
5) CIA's (in collusion with MI-6, ISI & other's) documented role in fomenting protracted, deadly insurgencies in Indian North-East, Punjab & J&K. This continues.
6) US' open siding with Pak in all conflicts & supplying it.
6) Hyphenation of India & Pakistan: This hurts Indian self-esteem big time but continues to be practices as a norm in the West (read, US).
7) Holier-than-thou attitude of American diplomats; pontificating about human rights/democracy. It is a sloppy & offending joke when the US does it to India. It is US which props & buttresses maximum despots of the world (think, Middle-East, Gulf) with security guarantees & what not, in the name of democracy & human rights.
8) Deep-rooted mutual distrust between the intelligence agencies, policy-making establishments & think-tanks of the two countries. It a widely held conviction that US has designs which are inimical to Indian sovereignty & territorial integrity.
9) US inherent lack of appetite for India's big power aspirations. World view differs- Unipolar vs. Multipolar
10) US Congressional laws are too complex to navigate & enter into any meaningful strategic partnership. Same can be said about India. But, both countries can make it work with other countries, like India does with with Russia, Vietnam, France & Japan while US does with its allies &
Gulf Sheikhs (who fund, shore & brace terrorist cartels throughout Eurasia).
This list can go on & on....but the crux is: While US & India can benefit out of each other on multiple fronts where our interests converge, both nations would not come any closer embrace beyond a certain comfort-level. Too close an hug from US is suffocating. I said & I quote "With us or Against us" won't work here.
So, we are "partners" in some realms but "allies" ? Do not even think about it. Level of distrust is way too high to redeem.