Unites States National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster embarked on his maiden visit to South Asia on 16 April 2017. McMaster’s trip to the region is part of the on-going consultation process ahead of finalising the Trump administration’s South Asia policy. This comes just after Washington snubbed Russia’s invitation to join its Afghan peace talks and used the ‘mother of all bombs’ against the so called ‘Islamic State’ in eastern Afghanistan.

In Washington, Trump’s pre-election rhetoric is subsiding and the administration is adopting a more assertive and muscular regional policy to fill the diplomatic void created in South Asia during the US presidential election campaign. From the perspective of major power politics, it is obvious that the United States will not cede any space to China or Russia in the region. The United States will seek to preserve its preponderant position in South Asia as the major security guarantor, conflict stabiliser and arbiter.

… Abdul Basit is an Associate Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.