India and the United States: Estranged Democracies, 1941-1991

Since India achieved independence in 1947, political relations between India and the United States have never been close, and today a number of formidable obstacles hinder progress along the pathway toward closer ties between these two populous democracies. To understand why such obstacles remain, one needs to review - among other matters - the more recent history of Indias close ties with the former Soviet Union, even as she proclaimed a policy of nonalignment. To understand why both governments feel there is hope for improved relations today, one should examine the entire history, beginning with the World War II and postwar years during which the United States supported Indians independence from Great Britain, Americas closest wartime ally. Although several books describing elements of this history have been written by Indian and American scholars, no American specialist had undertaken the complete story until Ambassador Dennis Kux decided to analyze the entire five-decade relationship. In this volume, he describes the major issues, events, and personalities that have influenced India-US relations from the Roosevelt administration through the Bush administration. Although the book is arranged by the sequence of US administrations, it clearly addresses audiences in both nations. Ambassador Kux wrote this book while a Visiting Fellow at the National Defense University. It was his feeling - and one we wholeheartedly support - that only by understanding the ebb and flow of relations over the entire half century may both governments intelligently address the remaining impediments to friendlier relations. Paul G. Cerjan Lieutenant General, United States Army President, National Defense University