US National Security Strategy: A World Reoriented and South Asia

The Trump administration released the US National Security Strategy (NSS) 2025, which outlined US strategic objectives, priority areas, strategies, and long-term policy orientation. For many of its European allies and partners, the NSS was a strategic shock because President Trump urged Europe to rethink its Security Architecture, including burden sharing within NATO. For US competitors such as Russia and China, there is a mixed view on the US strategic shift from the Euro-Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific. The document contains many ambiguities between America First and the national interests of others. But for South Asia, it is more than just a formal policy declaration; it holds greater significance for the region. South Asia needs to adapt to renewed strategic framework that recalibrates its strategy and maintains regional balance. The NSS did not discuss South Asia’s strategic outlook or the longstanding history of Conflicts between the two nuclear rivals but only mentioned the May Conflict. It assured that the Indo-Pacific once again remains at the heart of NSS and the core area of the US interests and called India a Strategic Partner of the US in Indo-Pacific.

NSS counts China as a threat to US economic and strategic interests in Indo-Pacific. And for that reason, the US will shift its strategic focus from the Euro-Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific, making Europe more responsible for its security to accommodate Russia. The US seeks to save time and resources to increase its presence and activities in Indo-Pacific. The document explicitly states that the US will compete in the Indo-Pacific region through alliances. The US plans to relocate its Weapons, technology, and logistical resources in the region to ensure that no actor controls or restricts the Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs) for a stable supply line and global trade. There is a stark contrast between the US expectations of non-interference from the world in the Western Hemisphere and its assertive plan for the Indo-Pacific. The South Asian region is an integral part of the Indian Ocean, a volatile region with a history of repeated wars, and home to two nuclear rivals sharing borders. The US plans to counter China by supporting India, and NSS ensures the US will expand its technology, weapons, and intelligence support to allies. The strategy ignores the region’s internal security dynamics. The enhanced US support for India may raise the security anxiety in the region by disrupting the fragile strategic balance between.

NSS asserts on the militarization of the Indian Ocean and also hints at possible conflict in the region to protect the US interests. It also emphasized the creation of alliances in the Indo-Pacific, indicating how the QUAD, which was initially created for economic and social cooperation, later evolved into a security-oriented partnership and became a geopolitical tool for the US in the region. Militarization of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) will not happen in a vacuum, amid the region’s complex dynamics and ongoing conflicts and tensions. The inadvertent or deliberate contestation between the US and China will have a significant impact on regional stability, particularly if India adopts an aggressive posture on behalf of the US to align with its strategic objectives. The South Asian region may become an inadvertent episode of US-China rivalry due to existing regional issues. Considering that India and Pakistan are the only nuclear rivals with direct military confrontations, Washington’s extensive defence cooperation with India will amplify its sense of strategic superiority against its neighbours. This strategic imbalance will fuel New Delhi’s dangerous confidence and will escalate the regional deterrence crisis.

The NSS repeatedly states the US conditional stance on intervening in disputes outside the Western Hemisphere. The US may intervene with full might if its interests are threatened, and the US will not exhaust its resources on matters outside the scope of its interests. Its support for India and the alliance restructuring is the prime example of how global power politics shape the regional geopolitical dynamics. South Asia seems to be a possible site of this great geopolitical contestation, where the US openly adopts an alliance-building stance and uses all means to maintain its hegemonic position. Regional actors may face a dilemma of choosing political blocs or improving their self-defence capabilities without becoming pawns between two great powers. Since the US looks to enhance strategic cooperation with India, the NSS does not hint at any collaboration with Pakistan in the near future. Policy makers in Islamabad need to reinterpret Pakistan’s economic and strategic alignment in the broader region.