Before the year 2000, the Indo-US relationship has been marked more with estrangement than cordiality. Why?. (UPSC CSE Mains 2015- Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
India has had a peculiar hot and cold relationship with the US since its independence. Throughout the Cold-War era, despite having many shared common values, both countries lacked conviction in their respective policies. The myopic Pakistan-centric American policy completely disregarding core Indian interests was the major cause of differences and mistrust between the two nations. Pakistan was an important cog in US Cold War strategy in the wider region of South Asia and the Gulf. India‘s was leader of the Non-aligned countries; and had a tilt towards socialism. India‘s model of “mixed” economy was a closed model that had high tariffs and regulations for the operations of foreign multinational corporations – leading MNCs after the Second World War were American MNCs. And the US, too, always alleged that India‘s strategic perception and policies were heavily tilted in favour of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Many scholars described India‘s Non-aligned policy as unethical in the context when, they said, the world was facing the threat of Communist totalitarianism against freedom.
The India-Us relations touched their Nadir when in 1971, the Pakistani army unleashed a genocide in East Pakistan. It killed 15 lakh Bengali Pakistanis, raped thousands of women, forcing an exodus of nearly 1 crore refugees to West Bengal. However, US President Richard Nixon & and Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger opted to support Pakistan and even tried to intimidate India by moving the US 7th fleet to the Bay of Bengal. The relations soured further in 1974 when India carried out a nuclear test for the first time.
The trend reversed with the end of Cold War and the opening up of the Indian economy during 1991-92. The Eastern bloc had ceased to exist, NAM had lost its relevance, the USSR was no more a threat, and the Indo-US relations seemed promising.
However, this positive phase received a drastic setback when India carried out 5 nuclear tests in May 1998. An enraged US imposed severe sanctions on India; with her allies Japan, Canada and Australia following the suit. The ban included key Indian Defence and science organizations and laboratories as well as well-known scientists.
Indo-US relations have made significant strides in the post-Cold War era, leaving the infamous tag of "estranged democracies" behind. In fact, the two countries have premised their strong bonds upon the strength of their traditions as the oldest and largest democracies in the world. As governance structures, education, awareness and governments themselves have evolved in both countries, there is even more that has come under the ambit of ―common values shared between the US and India.
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