India, March 29 -- Senior American officials and diplomats in recent interactions have conveyed that the United States will not automatically align with India in the event of a crisis involving Pakistan, underlining that Washington's decisions will be guided strictly by its own national interests, according to Indian officials familiar with the discussions.

The message, conveyed across multiple engagements in recent weeks, indicates that while India is seen as a key strategic partner, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, expectations of unconditional backing or a blank cheque in a conflict scenario with Pakistan are misplaced. This shift is underscored by a growing sense of "strategic realism" in Washington, where American interlocutors hav...