India Us Relations
India Us Relations
India Us Relations
INDIA - US RELATION
HISTORY:-
The two largest democracies on earth have never strongly interacted. The South Asian region
did not play an important role in America’s strategic considerations during the Cold War. India
was officially a non-aligned country, a fact America did not appreciate. Nepal, Maldives, Sri
Lanka and Bhutan were not big enough to be important while Bangladesh was part of Pakistan
till 1971. The Cold War rivalries primarily affected Pakistan and Afghanistan. The US perceived
India to
be part of the Soviet camp due to its ties with the Soviet Union. The US-Indian
policies usually ran parallel to each other or indirectly diverged through the
relations with Third World countries like Pakistan.
While the US did provide some help and support in the 1962 India-China conflict, in the 1965
Indo-Pak conflict, it took a pro-Pakistan stand. In the 1971 India-Pakistan war, the US supported
Pakistan but also warned India of American
intervention and even sent the US 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal. In fact, the issue of Kashmir,
pro-Pakistan stand of the US, India’ non-alignment policy, its friendly relations with USSR and
India’s refusal to sign Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT) were some of the factors that hindered development of close ties between India
and the US.
In January 1981, Ronald Reagan assumed the office of the President of the United States of
America. The Reagan administration emphasized on a
policy that inclined towards South Asia. This administration provided indirect military aid to anti-
Afghan guerrillas and completely economic and military support to Pakistan. This policy
obviously strained Indo-US ties. In spite of this, the United States planned to build a strong
military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. However, the nuclear policy of India and
India’s recognition of
Kampuchea led to the deterioration of Indo-US relationship. Other than such problems, the then
Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi wished to establish a close and cordial relationship with
Washington for the following two reasons:
(i) India could not depend completely on the Soviet Union to supply defence materials as it
would not serve India’s long-term interests. The United States and other western states had
better defence
equipment, in terms of quality, than the Soviet Union.
(ii) India did not welcome the Soviet forces on the border of both Pakistan and Afghanistan, not
only due to security reasons but also due to strategic reasons. To balance the situation, it would
be better
to have closer ties with the United States.
Indira Gandhi’s diplomatic efforts to open up lines of communication with the US administration
were made possible, when she met President Ronald Reagan personally during the Cancun
Conference in 1981. A year later, she met Ronald Reagan in Washington. After a couple of
meetings, Indira Gandhi developed a positive relationship with Reagan. Both the countries
officially agreed to expand scientific and technological cooperation.
Rajiv Gandhi wanted to give the Indo-US ties a new turn. He visited the United States in 1985
and tried to mend the strained relations. United States also responded favourably and agreed to
the transfer of high technology and offered advanced military technology and weaponry.
Although Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to the US did not provide any concrete results, it improved the two
countries’ understanding regarding each other’s interests.
During the 1980s, both the states were happy to extend their relationship
without touching each other’s national interests in the long term. Eventually, the
Indo-US ties became more friendly and cooperative, however, it lacked depth. Thus, despite
numerous bids by the leaders of the two countries, the relations between the countries
remained strained. With the end of the Cold War, and the emergence of the National Front
government in India, expectations for a new relationship with the US began. In 1989, the Soviet
troops had been withdrawn from Afghanistan. During the Gulf War of 1990-91, India adopted a
cooperative attitude towards the US and
provided refuelling facilities to American military transport aircrafts bound for
the war zone in the Gulf. The Bush administration responded favourably. A
change in the US attitude was evident from the fact that it warned Pakistan and imposed
sanctions on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme and suspended
military aid. He also declared that the UN resolution on the Kashmir issue was irrelevant.
Besides, India’s economy was being liberalized and was seen as a potentially attractive
economic partner for the United States. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, India
developed closer ties with the US in view of the dominant role it was expected to play in the
international arena.
In 1993, when Bill Clinton became the President of United States, he insisted that the goal of his
policy in South Asia was promotion of peace and stability in the region. Therefore, India’s high
expectations were immediately shattered, because the Kashmir issue and nuclear non-
proliferation led the centrepiece of the new policy of Clinton administration in this region. India’s
core national security interests—its territorial integrity as well as the preservation
of the nuclear option was touched by the policy of Clinton’s administration. Even the economic
cooperation could not be fulfilled beyond its expectation and during the early and the mid-1990s,
Indo-US ties became severely strained. The US wanted to remain the only Superpower in the
world and wanted to check upcoming major power aspirants. Naturally, India was against the
US underlying objectives as well as its aim for a unipolar world order. For this purpose, India
decided to become a nuclear weapons state so that it would be taken seriously for the global
power status.
In 1993, When Bill Clinton assumed the office of the President of the United States, his
administration’s top priority was to prevent a war between India and Pakistan and check the
nuclear arms race in the region.
The frequency of high-level visits and exchanges between India and the US has gone up
significantly of late. Prime Minister Modi visited the US on 26-30 September 2014; he held
meetings with President Obama, members of the US Congress and political leaders, including
from various States and cities in the US, and interacted with members of President Obama’s
Cabinet. He also reached out to the captains of the US commerce and industry, the American
civil society and think-tanks, and the Indian-American community. A Vision Statement and a
Joint Statement were issued during the visit.
The visit was followed by President Obama’s visit to India on 25-27 January 2015 as the Chief
Guest at India’s Republic Day. During the visit, the two sides issued a Delhi Declaration of
Friendship and adopted a Joint Strategic Vision for Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region.
Both sides elevated the Strategic Dialogue between their Foreign Ministers to Strategic and
Commercial Dialogue of Foreign and Commerce Ministers. Prime Minister Modi again visited
the US on 23-28 September 2015, during which he held a bilateral meeting with President
Obama, interacted
with leaders of business, media, academia, the provincial leaders and the Indian
community, including during his travel to the Silicon Valley.
There is frequent interaction between the leadership of the two countries,
including telephone calls and meetings on the sidelines of international summits.
A hotline has been established between the Prime Minister’s Office and the US White House.