Indo-us Relations for a Symbiotic World Order

We may not realize it, but International Relations play a massive part in our day to day lives. From the availability of products to the presence of peace in our society, it all boils down to the relationship between countries. A country with poor relations cannot provide it’s population adequate means to gain a high standard of living, due to the lack of resources caused by poor international relations. A prime example of this situation is North Korea, whose population is unable to have any sort of freedom to express itself.

For the purpose of this study, I was intrigued to find out interesting facts between two prominent countries in the world, namely India and USA. India and USA have usually had one of the most stable relationships, except for a few years in the 20th century. One of the most unique facts about this relationship is that USA is the world’s oldest constitutional republic and India is the world’s largest republic, at present.

Increase in bilateral trade & investment, cooperation on global security matters, inclusion of India in decision-making on matters of global governance (United Nations Security Council), upgraded representation in trade & investment forums (World Bank, IMF, APEC), admission into multilateral export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group) and joint-manufacturing through technology sharing arrangements have become key milestones and a measure of speed and advancement on the path to closer US-India relations.

In this paper, we will dive deeper into the relations between the two countries to provide an understanding to the readers about the various things that affect international relations, as well as come up with solutions in order to ensure the stability and growth of these relations.

Origin and Nature

During the days of British Raj, India and USA did not have a lot of interaction, and hence, they didn’t have much of a relationship. However, things started to change when World War II entered the picture. In the war against Japan, India became the main base for the American China Burma India Theater (CBI). Serious tension erupted when President Franklin D. Roosevelt demanded that India should be given freedom. This demand was immediately rejected by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who even threatened to resign if Roosevelt didn’t back out of his demand.

Post independence, India and USA didn’t have the best of relations. This was mainly due to USA’s closeness with India’s rival, Pakistan. Pakistan was part of the US-led made Western Bloc. Furthermore, during the cold war, India adopted a non-alignment policy, meaning it will be a neutral throughout the war. However, Indian relations with the Soviet Union were good. The American officials were not happy with India’s stance during the Cold war, and stated that neutrality is not an acceptable position. President Jawaharlal Nehru was persuaded to join the diplomatic side, but he refused.

These relations took a turn in 1950, when India turned to America for aid due to poor harvests in their country. For the first 12 years post independence, USA provided India with 1.7 billion dollars, including 931 million dollars worth of food. In 1961, the US pledged $1.0 billion in development loans, in addition to $1.3 billion of free food.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to visit India. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy said that he considered India to be an important strategic partner and counterweight to the rise of Communist China. However, after the Kennedy assassination, India and USA’s relations deteriorated slighty. Even though his successor Lyndon Johnson wanted to maintain good relations with India, his main aim was to strengthen ties with Pakistan, as well as weaken India’s growing army.

In the next presidency, the relationship between India and USA was at its worst. President Richard Nixon established very strong ties with Pakistan, providing it with financial and military aid, whereas Indian President Indira Gandhi maintained close relations with the Soviet Union. In the late 1970s, with the anti-Soviet Janata Party leader Morarji Desai becoming the Prime Minister, India improved its relations with the US, now led by Jimmy Carter, despite the latter signing an order in 1978 barring nuclear material from being exported to India due to India’s non-proliferation record.

In 1984, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was named Prime Minister. Soon after, he authorized nuclear weapon testing in Pokhran, a small town in Rajasthan. President Bill Clinton was strongly against this and promised sanctions. President Bill Clinton imposed economic sanctions on India, including cutting off all military and economic aid, freezing loans by American banks to state-owned Indian companies, prohibiting loans to the Indian government for all except food purchases, prohibiting American aerospace technology and uranium exports to India, and requiring the US to oppose all loan requests by India to international lending agencies.[44] However, these sanctions proved ineffective - India was experiencing a strong economic rise, and its trade with the US only constituted a small portion of its GDP. Only Japan joined the US in imposing direct sanctions, while most other nations continued to trade with India. The sanctions were soon lifted. Afterward, the Clinton administration and Prime Minister Vajpayee exchanged representatives to help rebuild relations.

India US strategic relations in the 21st century: The starting point of Indo-US relationship is to go back deep in the annals of the past which has evolved and taken shape through various up and down. The dissolution of the erstwhile Soviet Union has been an impetus for Indo-US relations. Since the early phase of 21st century, the Indo-US strategic relationship is evolving at greater pace. At the bilateral level, both sides have identified key areas of cooperation in the fields of defence, technology and maritime and space etc. There is a good opportunity of security cooperation between Indo-US through strategic partnership which will also bolster their bilateral relations. Besides, the emerging Indian market is important for the US trade interests. India can use the US expertise to meet its energy demands and arms manufacturing. At the multilateral level, The US has been supportive of India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council and four export control regime. Therefore, we can say that Modi-Trump will work continually for the interests of Indo-US relations.

At present, India and the US share an extensive and expanding cultural, strategic, military, and economic relationship which is in the phase of implementing confidence building measures (CBM) to overcome the legacy of trust deficit - brought about by adversarial US foreign policies and multiple instances of technology denial - which have plagued the relationship over several decades. Unrealistic expectations after the conclusion of the 2008 U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement (which underestimated negative public opinion regarding the long-term viability of nuclear power generation and civil-society endorsement for contractual guarantees on safeguards and liability) has given way to pragmatic realism and refocus on areas of cooperation which enjoy favorable political and electoral consensus.

Key recent developments include the rapid growth of India’s economy, closer ties between the Indian and American industries especially in the Information and communications technology (ICT), engineering and medical sectors, an informal alliance to manage an increasingly assertive China, robust cooperation on counter-terrorism, the deterioration of U.S.-Pakistan relations, easing of export controls over dual-use goods & technologies (99% of licenses applied for are now approved), and reversal of long-standing American opposition to India’s strategic program.

Income creation in the USA through knowledge-based employment by Asian Indians has outpaced every other ethnic group according to U.S. Census data. Indian American households are the most prosperous in the USA with a median revenue of US$100,000, followed by Chinese Americans at US$65000. The average household revenue in the USA is US$50000.

In February 2017, Indian ambassador to the U.S. Navtej Sarna hosted a reception for the National Governors Association (NGA), which was attended by the Governors of 25 states and senior representatives of 3 more states. This was the first time such an event has occurred. Explaining the reason for the gathering, Virginia Governor and NGA Chair Terry McAuliffe stated that “India is America’s greatest strategic partner”. He further added, “We clearly understand the strategic importance of India, of India-US relations. As we grow our 21st century economy, India has been so instrumental in helping us build our technology, medical professions. We recognize a country that has been such a close strategic ally of the US. That’s why we the Governors are here tonight”. McAuliffe, who has visited India 15 times, also urged other Governors to visit the country with trade delegations to take advantage of opportunities.

Furthermore, the current President Donald Trump has also been very vocal in the support of India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made various trips to America during his tenure. His drive to encourage US investment in India with projects like “Make in India” have proven to attract more attention towards India, along with more foreign investment.