At 250 years old, the story of the United States is no longer a singular narrative, but a grand anthology of plural voices. The Indian American community stands as a tribute to the lasting vitality of the American experiment.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
As the United States of America celebrates its semi-quincentennial this year, the nation stands at a crossroads. And as Americans across the length and breadth of this vast land—from sea to shining sea—and beyond gather around their barbecue and watch the spectacular fireworks in the night sky, this milestone also invites reflection and assessment of the Great American Experiment.
The American experience, unique in many ways, is an ongoing journey in “pursuit of a more perfect union.” Inherent in this assertion, as lettered in the Preamble of the Constitution, is the fact that the “union” is far from being perfect.
While the nation’s founding documents laid a framework of liberty, equality, and representation—revolutionary as it was at the time—the realization of those ideals has been an evolving, intergenerational endeavour.
Today, as America confronts a rapidly shifting demographic and cultural landscape, and anxiety over geopolitical conflicts and certain technological innovations, the Indian American community is poised to play a key role in the American project. This community shows how modern immigration has both positively added to and redefined the existing architecture of the American Dream.
At the heart of the American experience is the Declaration of Independence. Subhash Kak, a Regents professor of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oklahoma State University and a Hindu philosopher, calls the Declaration “the great experiment in human history.” The Declaration reads like a mission statement and is unparalleled in what it aims to achieve.
Among the most significant sentences of the Declaration is the following. It reads:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
These powerful words from the United States Declaration of Independence, drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, serve as the moral and philosophical foundation of American democracy. By declaring that human rights are “self-evident” and “unalienable,” the document argues that fundamental freedoms are not granted by kings or governments, but are inherent to human existence itself endowed by our “Creator.” The state, however, guarantees the protection of these inalienable rights.
The American state, wrote Kak in an email, “dedicates itself to liberty and human agency in a realistic system of checks and balances” among its executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government. American federalism, on the other hand, prevents the American government from becoming so strong that it threatens its citizens’ fundamental rights.
While the historical reality of 1776 glaringly contradicted some of its ideals—as women, Indigenous peoples, and enslaved Black Americans were excluded from full participation in the nation’s democratic process—the Declaration evolved into a powerful, living creed. Over the centuries, it has been continuously invoked by civil rights leaders, abolitionists, and suffragettes to demand that the nation close the gap between its founding promises and its actual practices. “Although flawed in practice, [this American experiment] has strived to improve itself,” adds Kak.
THE MAKING OF THE INDIAN AMERICAN STORY
For much of its first two centuries, the American narrative was predominantly seen through a Eurocentric lens. However, the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened the doors to a wave of highly educated and skilled immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, including India. Over the subsequent decades, Indian Americans, still a minuscule minority, transitioned from a relatively small, tight-knit diaspora into one of the most affluent, well-educated, and influential demographic groups in the country.
Today, Indian Americans lead major Fortune 500 tech giants, drive groundbreaking scientific research and innovation, add spice and colour to the American cultural tapestry, and mould public policy at the highest levels of local, state, and federal government. This evolution demonstrates that being American is defined not by ancestral origin, but through a shared commitment to the nation’s cultural and civic fabric.
THE U.S.-INDIA TANGO
This Indian American story deeply influences the US-India relationship, which is undergoing a structural reset. The strategic reorientation post-Cold War that saw India as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific to counter the mercurial rise of China has, of late, also seen a major rebalancing act by the US under the current administration.
Ramesh Rao, a strategic communications professor at Columbus State University, calls the US-India relationship “troubled,” a characterization that has belied its potential. In an email, Rao points to several factors behind it, including legacy Cold War estrangement, mismatched perceptions of India, unstable personal relationships among leaders, and jaundiced commentary from the American media, India-baiting US academics mostly of “South Asia” centres, and ideologically slanted bodies such as the USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom).
The relationship between the US and India has historically been defined by “periods of alignment, disinterest, frustration, and convergence.” India is not a treaty ally of the US. American leadership, according to Rich Verma, former US ambassador to India, does not consider India one of its closest friends and partners. “Few would assert that the US and India have become allies, natural or otherwise,” writes Verma in his 2020 Georgetown University doctoral dissertation. The two largest democracies in the world, Rao adds, “have not yet firmly tied the diplomatic and trade knots over the past eight decades that might have reshaped the world for the better.”
President Donald Trump has been one of the most unorthodox leaders in world history. He governs by businessman-like instinct rather than ideology, and he harboured a few chaotic, wild ideas. He had the American electorate sold on those ideas as he won a landslide victory in his second term after a four-year gap, over his Democrat opponent, Kamala Harris, the favourite of the elites and President Joe Biden’s deputy. However, Mr Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 has spelled disaster for the US-India relationship. Mr Trump is remaking the world by breaking the World Order that has existed since the end of World War II.
While the Trump administration’s second incarnation initially introduced questions regarding strategic continuity and trade frictions, some of the bilateral dynamics have stabilized around concrete frameworks that favour high-tech manufacturing, defence co-production, and supply chain security. However, moving past historical bottlenecks to achieve economic pragmatism, technology co-development, and a clear-eyed convergence on regional security will take steadfast commitment from both countries.
Rao, however, is sceptical that anything positive will happen during Mr Trump’s remaining second term, “as Indian leaders and citizens fret about the unnecessary needling and provocations by the administration.”
But Rao is also hopeful, as he thinks Americans are “pragmatic,” and Indians are willing to bide their time. “Indians will consult their many fortune-tellers until the time is ripe for a trusting, long-lasting relationship,” said Rao jokingly. “Meanwhile, we can only hope that the 250th anniversary of American independence will usher in a new era that will be inspired and led by the two largest and greatest of democracies in the world,” Rao continued.
WHERE FROM HERE?
At America’s 250th anniversary, the Indian American experience points to a broader cultural shift toward a more pluralistic nation. This milestone is less about looking back at a static past and more about acknowledging how new communities expand the definition of what it means to be American. Indian Americans, with their own experience of native pluralism and democracy, have easily and successfully navigated the complexities of hyphenated identity—preserving robust cultural, linguistic, and spiritual traditions while fully investing in the democratic responsibilities of their adopted home.
Furthermore, the community’s high rates of civic engagement and philanthropy underscore a deep-seated patriotism. Like many immigrant groups before them, Indian Americans have embraced the core promises of 1776—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—that broadly aligns with the Hindu Purushartha of Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. Yet, Rao cautions, given the deep divisions in present-day American politics and the gamesmanship of many establishment power-wielders, “Indian contributions to the idea of America might not even get a footnote in the July 4 celebrations.”
As India seeks to become a Viksit (developed) $30 trillion economy while placing Hindu civilizational values at the centre of cultural and political life, there is room to learn from the American experience too.
Even without external bottlenecks and despite its rich civilizational history, India suffers from fundamental weaknesses and handicaps. One of the things that has shaped America is its spirit of entrepreneurship and the quest for meritocracy. India’s quest for Viksit Bharat conflicts with its own brand of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and wokeness. According to Kak, India’s “extreme-woke political arrangement with pervasive quotas and reservations, laws such as SC/ST Act, and gender based laws that have been weaponized against specific groups and lead to corruption by the law and order machinery.”
At 250 years old, the story of the United States is no longer a singular narrative, but a grand anthology of plural voices. The Indian American community stands as a tribute to the lasting vitality of the American experiment. By infusing the nation’s economy, culture, and governance with unique perspectives and persistent drive, they have helped ensure that America looks toward its next century as a dynamic, resilient, and truly global republic.
God Bless America!
*The author is a Chicago-based award-winning journalist
