Indo-US relations

India and United States of America (USA) despite being world's largest and dyanamic democracies having several commonalities, have been prisoners of mistrust. Relations between the two countries have been dominated by the events that unfolded following the formation independent India and its strong policy of non-alignment.

India and United States of America (USA) despite being world's largest and dyanamic democracies having several commonalities, have been prisoners of mistrust. Relations between the two countries have been dominated by the events that unfolded following the formation independent India and its strong policy of non-alignment. Despite courting by the US, India remained a leading light of the non-aligned monevent (NAM) that irked the US. Moreover, India did not take the US stance on Kashmir and subsequent US patronage to Pakistan on the issue in late 1940s and early 1950s kindly.

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The Government of India and most Indians then were of the opinion that US was trying to coerce India into settling the Kashmir issue on Pakistan's terms. When the US started arming Pakistan military with spohisticated weaponry India had to look towards Russia to meet its defence and technological requirements. India's patronage of socialist based approach towards the economy or the "middle path" followed by disorganised labour laws and protectionism also drove away the interests of US corporates.

Things started to change post 1991, when India unleashed its economic reforms and decided to open its economy and compete with the global market. Considering India's geopolitical location, its vast market and qualified human resource pool, US companies were among the first to start investing in India in since late 1990s. While private investments were trickling in to India from the US, another notable factor that contributed heavily towards the betterment of relations and understanding between the two countries were the indian technocrats who did wonders and made an impact in US. The boom in information technology gave another opportunity to the Indian technocrats to excel and as more and more expatriates enmeshed with the American community they brought about a radical change in US thinking towards India.

The Indian immigrants are slowly reaching the top rungs of the socio-economic ladder in America. They are transforming American economy by taking active roles as entrepreneurs, researchers, academicians, doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers and administrators. Their level of experience with democracy in their home country and their ease of understanding of English has made the transition a smooth one. The success of the Indian Diaspora in the US can be attributed to its educational aptitude and qualifications and to its capacity to harmonize and adapt to a new societal milieu.