Evolution of ties INDIA - USA

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The US first began to take notice of India during WW2, till that point there was remarkably low contact b/w the two countries and only handful of Indians lived in US.
India’s status as colony made diplomatic relations b/w two countries extremely tough over and above which given India’s massive poverty and underdevelopment , the subcontinent hold little strategic or economic interest for the USA. However ROOSEVELT administration viewed India as an important player in war effort as against Japanese aggression and as logistic hub for Chinese nationalist forces and a source for manpower for the allies
Roosevelt believed that British policy was morally repugnant and denied Indians of fundamental rights which American and British nationals he’d very dear. Roosevelt felt thatch a policy would create millions of adversaries in the region and at the same time was facing domestic pressure as American people were sympathetic to the Indian cause.
Roosevelt thus made substantial effort to make direct ties with India and persuade Churchill to give a proper timetable for Indian independence in return for their cooperation during war effort
However Churchill rejected the advice as he was not to preside over the demise of mighty British empire and over that thought that Indians are incapable of responsible self-rule and predicted that independence will lead to large scale communal violence.
Indian leaders were disappointed in failure of US to press the cause of India more vehemently as Indian leader have long considered US as a potential ally in their freedom as observed from NEHRU’s argument for
Indian independence to American foreign policy elites in FOREIGN AFFAIRS and ATLANTIC MONTHLY. In the end it was clear that USA was ready to tolerate its ally colonial policy keeping in mind its larger geo-strategic aims.
US officials were also critical to Indian leaders as they believed that there independence tactics undermined the WAR efforts particularly the QUIT INDIA MOVT OF 1942. Thus difference over the question of indolence was less one of philosophy but more of priority.
India-USA relations deteriorated after the Indian independence of 1947 over the Kashmir Issue b/w INDIA and PAKISTAN. Indians adopted a two pronged approach toward the dispute at one level complaining about Pakistan aggression on international level i.e UN as India hoped that the neutral body will condemn the aggressor PAKISTAN and call for withdrawal of impeding force, simultaneously India adopted a military approach.
However neither India’s diplomatic or military tactic changer much on ground. In response to this British followed a pro-Paksitan policy as it thought support to India will further infuriate the ARABS ( after ARAb-ISRAEL conflict )and thus discouraged India from widening the war and attacking India proper.

THE COLD WAR ERA

USA saw South-Asia as a region peripheral to its strategic needs and various American administrators consider India as important from in the Cold War contest, viewing the country as democracy emerging in Chinese communist shadow.
US gave India Substantial economic aid as American ties with China deteriorated and during 1962 SINO-INDO war US publicly supported India’s interpretation of its border with China and even ferried military equipment to India.
Despite occasional Indo-US cooperation India cannot play as full-fledged ally of USA as it has progressed on it own non-aligned discourse. From the US perspective Indian non-alignment did not translated into genuine neutrality and this was testified as India tilted away from USA in 1970’s on close cooperation with Soviet
Indians admired Soviets Union economic success and also appealed to the socialist proclivities of PM NEHRU. The relationship developed further with border disputes b/w Russia and China and simultaneous betterment of relations b/w USA and CHINA bought two countries closer against suspected common enemy
New Delhi withheld criticism of Soviet on its invasion for HUNGARY and later AFGHANISTAN and thus India’s non-aligned policy became a source of irritation for US.
Beyond these strategic problems India was economically unattractive during cold-war as India suffered chronic underdevelopment and USA didn’t view it as potential trading partner, target for investments or skilled labour.
The economic weakness severely constrained India’s military capability and limited its abilities to pose a direct challenge to American interests in South-Asia and any strategic interest US perceived in South Asia was to its arch rival PAKISTAN as it became e the part of US sponsored SEATO and CENTO and allowed its territory as a base for overflight to eavesdrop on soviet union and a vital conduit to American arms shipments to anti soviet forces in AFGHANISTAN
American support for Pakistan reached its zenith during the 1971 war when US president Nixon dispatched the aircraft carrier ENTERPRISE to bay of Bengal, thus the close relationship b/w US and PAK had negative effect on India Us relations which deteriorated further when India conducted its first peaceful nuclear explosion and termed the successive polices that followed i.e NPT etc as partial and amounting to ‘nuclear apartheid’.

NEW INDO— US RELATIONS

STRUCTURAL FACTORS

There were differences over India’s nuclear programme and its position over Kashmir against Pakistan which was a close ally for US in the region , on the other hand India viewed US as quasi-colonial power that was adamant in denying India its rightful dominant position in the region

The collapse of Soviet Union forced Indian policy makers to recalculate their strategic options as they can no longer rely on superpower military and diplomatic protection and nor did the Russians made it clear if they would allow Indian s to purchase arms under favourable terms of Cold War. India realised that a closer relationship with the US could help them fill the vacuum left by the soviet and also to balance against rising Chinese power

DOMESTIC FACTORS

A severe financial crisis gripped India in 1991 following the gulf-war which was a result of following

India had badly depleted its foreign exchange reserves purchasing the oil
Hostilities forced India o repatriate over 1 lakh workers from the Gulf region
After the war a series of loan payments to multilateral banks came due causing the Indian exchequer in a tailspin
Although scholars attribute the Gulf crisis as the cause of financial crisis some section of scholars has opined that the cause of crisis was deep routed I the ‘failure of socialist model of development’
However there were signs of Diverse of Indian economy beginning form the 1980’s and aggravated by the rising service sector post the 1991 reforms with India producing skilled labour in the IT field which conceded with the US dot.net crisis inevitably bringing the countries close towards cooperation

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Various leaders have contributed to this starting under PV NARASIMHA RAO who bought India out of autarkic policies thus making it an invaluable economically for the USA
President BILL CLINTON also plays an imp role in the development of the bilateral relations though vexed against the spread of nuclear weapons and warned both India and Pakistan against the same. However during the KARGIL conflict BIILL CLINTON refuse to help NAWAZ SHARIF over the border conflict until all the Pakistani soldiers have retreated to their side of LOC and at the same time kept Indian upraised about the situation.
India was thus clear that US would not help its traditional ally at the expense of INDIA as JASWANT SINGH the then foreign minister said to DEPUTY SECERETARY of STATE STROBE TALBOTT ‘something terrible has happened in the past months b/w the neighbours but something good has happened between our countries’
This cooperation. Further developed under BUSH administration and resulted the signing of Civil Nuclear Agreement b/w the two countries.