Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh while addressing the Indian American Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi has highlighted the growing ties between two great democracies of the world. He mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of viksitbharatsankalp and the Role of the US in achieving the target of aatmanirbharbharat and becoming a developed nation by 2047. A fostered relationship between the two nations will create a new world order, which will be determined by peace, cooperation, terror-free, and mutual coexistence of all humans. India has a strategic partnership with the United States which stands on the pillars of democracy, human rights, economic cooperation, anti-terrorism, and collective security.
IMAGE SOURCE – CIVILS DAILY
History India-USA relation
Indo–US relations date back to the Indian independence movement and got strengthened after India’s independence from British colonial rule, the cooperation between the two nations got a real boost when India liberalized and opened its economy in the early 1990s. currently, under the Modi regime, the ties between both nations deepened further. The INDO-US ties were not always smooth. During the Cold War era (1945-1990) India was part of the Non-Aligned_Movement refused to join the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and was closer to the erstwhile communist Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). which resulted in growing bitterness in the relations of the two nations and made Pakistan closer to the US. During the Cold War US also wanted its presence in central and south Asia to counter the spread of communist ideology in the newly independent decolonized countries so in 1954 Central_Treaty_Organization was formed and Pakistan was made a member of it. Though India tried to balance its relations with both the superpowers simultaneously. It was finally in 1990 when the USSR disintegrated and a unipolar world with us hegemony was established Indian foreign policy also shifted its focus towards Washington.
India- USA relations after the 1990s till 2014
In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War Francis Fukuyama in his book, “The End of History and Last Man” mentions the victory of liberalism and the establishment of a democratic world order. The disintegration of the USSR has led to the victory of liberalism over communism, and democracy over socialism. Which created a unipolar world. In the early 1990s, India was also facing an economic and foreign exchange crisis and to counter this government of India decided to open its economy and adopted the policy of liberalization, privatization, and globalization as a replacement for limit, license, and quota respectively. The new economic policy of 1990 created a new way for India to improve its relations with the United States. Even after reforms the relationship between the two nations remained lukewarm and even deteriorated on several issues, particularly on nuclear tests. In the wake of a nuclear test by India in 1998, American President Bill Clinton imposed economic restrictions on India and prohibited loans to the Indian government from all sources. However, this prohibition proved ineffective as India was experiencing a strong economic rise. The sanctions were also lifted. United States President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in 2000 and the Indian prime minister’s visit to New York in 2003 proved to be very decisive-establishing diplomatic ties between both nations. during the UPA government tenure between (2004-2014) and George W. Bush tenure as us president the relations further blossomed in issues of science and technology, space, agriculture, education, counter-terrorism (especially after The incident of 9/11). Indian foreign policy scholar Laskar commented that UPA rule has been seen as a “transformation in bilateral ties with the US”
India- USA From 2014 onwards
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India’s relations with the United States have improved significantly. Both countries are involved in cooperation over important issues like economic prosperity, cultural influence, technological exchange, and military exploration. A most important aspect of current US-INDO relations is the rapid development of the Indian economy. The United States and India cooperate closely on several important international stages including the United Nations, WTO, the World Bank, G-20, IMF, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). the role of the Indian diaspora is also very crucial in strengthening the ties between the two nations. India is also part of QUAD along with the US, Australia, and Japan which ensure an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
