India-United States of America (USA) Relations

India-United States of America (USA) Relations

History

Formal political relations with the USA began during World War II. The first exchange of envoys, Thomas Wilson and Sir Girija Shankar Bajpai, took place in 1940 which resulted in the establishment of a diplomatic office in Delhi.

It was not until 1946, under the presidency of Harry S Truman, that the full-fledged diplomatic relations emerged between India and the US. This was consolidated further after India became independent in 1947.

During the partition, Kashmir, acceded to India, which Pakistan contested. Pakistan claimed that this accession was done forcibly by India. This issue was taken up by the United Nations for discussion in 1948, as a result of which, a U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) was set up. India was stated that this was a “completely wrong” move and strongly criticised USA and U.K for their role. Nehru’s first visit to the United States followed soon after the formation of the commission.

Devoid of personal rapport between the heads of the two states and mutual criticisms, the gap between India and USA further widened. Things did not improve with the formation of an American sponsored alliance system - SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization) and CENTO (Central Treaty Organization). Pakistan’s inclusion in the organisation and the resulting US-Pakistan military pact left little hope for any improvement in the bilateral relations. Although there were small periods of a better environment in the second term of Eisenhower and during Kennedy’s term, it was still a very long way from ‘all-weather friendly’ ties.

The USA tried to interfere and influence India’s domestic (economic) programmes when India sought economic and technical assistance from her for industrialization.

Under PL480, five agreements were signed between India and USA for supply of agricultural commodities to India in 1954.

Post-Cold War Relations

Fifty years after India’s independence, emerging from the devastation of long colonisation, India became the largest democratic nation whose commitment to peace was undeterred by internal diversity or external factors. India’s demographic asset with IT (Information Technology) capabilities and English speaking abilities was a thriving ground for feeding the global talent force for the age of the internet. At the turn of the millennium, it was clear that the Asian giants - China and India were out of the deep slumber, marking the shift of power from west to east. With the change of attitude between Indian and American leadership during the Rao-Clinton period, there was the birth of a new strategic partnership.

The position taken by the US, not to back Pakistan during the Kargil war, for violating the LoC (Line of Control) was welcomed in India. In 2000, Clinton’s visit to India was seen as the emergence of a new era in India-USA relations. Vajpayee befittingly referred to India as a neighbour and partner of the United States on the digital map. Further, science and technology, environmental sustainability, climate change, education, HIV, tsunami relief etc., became areas of collaboration. Subsequently, despite minor issues, US-India ties during the Bush administration continued on the same path of progress, lending the term ‘natural allies’ more meaning. The relations further matured into co-operation on defence, civil nuclear energy and enhanced people to people ties during the Obama administration.

India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement

The 123 Agreement signed between the United States of America and the Republic of India is known as the USA–India Civil Nuclear Agreement or India-USA nuclear deal.The framework for this agreement was a July 18 2005, joint statement by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the US President George W. Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and in exchange the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.

The deal places under permanent safeguards those nuclear facilities that India has identified as “civil” and permits broad civil nuclear cooperation, while excluding the transfer of “sensitive” equipment and technologies, including civil enrichment and reprocessing items even under IAEA safeguards.

On October 1, 2008 the USA Senate also approved the civilian nuclear agreement allowing India to purchase nuclear fuel and technology from and sell them to the United States.

Way Forward

The apparent choice for isolationist tendencies visible in the Trump administration has caused anxiety and reactions in the world. Although there is continuity in the India-USA ties under the new administration calling the partnership “two bookends of stability”. However, the trade and technology conflicts and America. First policy are potential roadblocks in an otherwise deepening friendship. The USA attempts to undermine the traditional India-Iran ties pose serious challenges for Indian foreign policy. India is in pursuit of autonomy in foreign policy and is balancing the India-USA ties with that of other major partners.