It’s a geopolitical statement. The US always needs an enemy to justify their egregiously high military budget, but, well, the USSR collapsed and the War on Terror is basically over.
Now, the US drops military bases in Southeast Asia like they’re candy and acts like that’s totally not a provocative measure (unlike, say, putting a Soviet military base in Cuba).
Even today, India is slowly shifting away from being America’s media darling because of their policy of self-interest… soon, they’ll be lumped in with China as being one of those “bad” countries that are “America’s enemy.”