The United States and India, 1947-2006: A Documentary Study

This timely volume chronicles the transition of Indo-US relations from one between estranged democracies to a "strategic partnership" in the 21st century. It is the most comprehensive and up-to-date documentary study of the political, economic/trade, military/defence and nuclear dimensions of US relations with India from 1947 to 2006. The study discusses the overall strands and nuances in relations between India and the United States during the Cold War and after. It deals with the implications of the American alliance with Pakistan, the extension of limited arms assistance to India following the India-China war of 1962 and support to the Tashkent and Simla agreements, Nixon’s "tilt" towards Pakistan during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, India’s nuclear test of 1974, the interruption and discontinuance of fuel supply to the Tarapur atomic power plant. It examines how relations improved somewhat in the 1980s and the process of bilateral convergence across a range of economic and security issues started imperceptibly in the 1990s. The study examines how the end of the Cold War, the expansion of economic relations, the emergence of the United States as the leading investment and trading partner of India, greater military cooperation, and the US role during the Kargil crisis (1999) led to a substantial improvement in Indo-US relations. It also deals with the imposition of sanctions in May 1998 and the conclusion of the landmark nuclear deal in July 2005, which signified the end of 30 years of nuclear and technological apartheid and acknowledgement of India as a legitimate nuclear power. The study contains a judicious selection of 692 basic documents from official sources, including Congressional hearings, and provides the full texts or extracts from various agreements, joint communiqu’s and statements and interviews by Government dignitaries. This book will prove to be an invaluable reference work for students and scholars of political sciences, international relations, South Asian studies and US foreign policy.