Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist September 2019 | Page 34

SPOTLIGHT
India-US Bilateral Relations
Efforts and Results
BY Aditya Kumar*
I
ndia-US ties have always been under the realm of
uncertainty, post-cold war. Despite that, India chose to
remain agnostic towards both the superpower. U.S.A
largely perceived India closer to USSR because Russian
history and literature were continuously part of Indian
universities and elite culture. Nuclear test added fuel to the
fire. It is only after the emergence of China as an economic
power in Asia and the world, US and India started coming
closer as strategic defense partners. India started shifting
towards US popular culture after the disintegration of USSR
and series of Indian economic reforms post-1991. The story
of the paradigm shift of strategy of both India and the US
towards each other is dramatic and could be seen as the
immediate need of the hour.
India detonated its first nuclear device in 1974 becoming
the first country outside the UN Security Council to have
possessed nuclear capabilities. The move irked many
countries including the United States which proclaimed
several economic sanctions against India. As a follow-up act,
India refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1978
which had provisions of inspection of all nuclear facilities
of India by the International Atomic Energy Agency. This
estranged India’s relation with the US for the next two
decades.
To date, India is a key global strategic partner to the United
States of America with a legacy of shared trade of 142.1
billion dollars with a growth rate of 7.59 percent per annum.
In the last two decades, the relationship of both countries has
improved significantly through simultaneous efforts of both
these economic giants in areas of trade, defense, nuclear,
space and cultural cooperation.
Both countries started coming closer as India pushed its
34 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 9 • September 2019, Noida