Indo-US Relations: Past, Present and Future

22 Nov, 2001    ·   644

Speech delivered by Prof Thomas Thornton, John Hopkins University at the India International Centre, New Delhi on 19 November 2001
In his lucid and compressed presentation, Prof Thornton made the following points:

 

 

  • Immediately after India ’s independence there was an expectation of developing good relations between the two countries. But the relations had to face certain hard realities of world politics. Both pursued different interests, which were often conflicting. Because of its unilateralist tendencies the US consistently thwarted India from realizing its interests. The meagerness of relations was also due to India ’s different worldview and US’s disinterestedness on India .

     

  • The US had enormous influence at a point in time on the economic and agricultural policies of India , especially when the latter was struggling to finance its Third Five-Year plan. But later things changed. 

     

  • The Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 were shocks for Washington . During these wars the US was more worried about China and Soviet Union than happenings in the South Asian region. The US academic community become alienated during this period due to visa restrictions placed on their visiting India . 

     

  • During the Emergency the US liberal community lost interest in India . But India survived that scar and continues as a vibrant democracy. I am confident and happy that India will remain as a democratic country forever.

     

  • The US was irritated with India in the Afghan crisis and India with the US over the latter’s support to Pakistan . 

     

  • India ’s nuclear tests seriously affected the bilateral relationship because of the US 's general non-proliferation concerns.

     

  • The US does not buy Indian views on Kashmir . It condemns cross-border violence, but at the same time, is concerned over the excesses by Indian security forces. Any solution to the issue should be based on the “wishes of the people of J&K”.

     

  • Both countries should not base their relations on negativism, like US opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, setting up of International War Crimes Tribunal and so on. They should not allow themselves to be sucked into narrow cultural conflicts. The ongoing war against terrorism should not be seen as a “clash of civilizations” but against the tragedy that struck the US ; its efforts in this regard should not be considered as directed against a particular community.

     

  • Unlike in the past there is a growing awareness in the US about India and we should build on this. It is not appropriate to place all the eggs of bilateral relations in security basket; these relations should be broad-based.

     

  • In this regard, the future of Indo-US relations is bright, specifically in two fields: Economics and Indian Americans, especially the Indian Americans, who are doing extremely well. The US is gaining a lot from them.

 

 

 

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