There are six countries that border India: Myanmar, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. With Sri Lanka to the south, though it doesn’t share a land border with India, the total comes to seven countries that are in close proximity. Unfortunately, this has led to a long history of various conflicts, whether related to racial or territorial disputes. Leaders in India are constantly dealing with border disputes with countries such as China, who have even mapped one of the Indian states, Arunachal Pradesh, as Chinese territory. Tamil freedom fighters in Sri Lanka have been moving between their island nation and the southern state of Tamil Nadu, embroiled in a racial conflict that has lasted for many decades. Pakistan and India have been experiencing religious tensions since before partition and Independence even occurred, with Muslim and Hindu extremists continuing to exacerbate the conflict. India typically has better relations with those nations that it does not share borders with, especially the United States, and has an extremely large population living abroad, primarily in Western countries.
Relations with the United States have been relatively genial since India’s independence. Our Study Abroad class recently had a lecture on Indo-US relations and was given a history of the relationship between the two countries. In 1959, Eisenhower became the first U.S. president to visit the newly recognized country of India after the British left. 1962 became a watershed year, as there was a border war between China and India, with the U.S. supporting India by flying in supplies. After the death of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s foreign policy became far more pragmatic and less idealistic. India moved closer to the Soviet Union, attempting to emulate their economic practices and choosing policies that favored steel manufacturing. In 1971, there were multiple talks between Pakistan, China, and the United States and on the other side were multiple talks between India and the Soviet Union. Thus two teams appeared to be forming, though the United States and India were not on the same side.
The lowest point, historically, in Indo-US relations was during the war between India and Pakistan, eventually resulting in the creation of Bangladesh out of East Pakistan. The U.S. was not happy with the split of Pakistan and had plans to use nuclear weapons on India at one point. During this time, India became a major importer of weaponry from the USSR. Presently, India is the leading importer of weapons systems from any country, surpassing China.
The greatest tensions, barring that of the creation of Bangladesh, were during the first rounds of nuclear activities in India, beginning in 1974. After the first nuclear tests were conducted in India, the United States broke off relations. India, Pakistan, and Israel all declined to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, further adding tension to international relations. After India’s economic turnaround in 1991, relations between the two democratic countries drastically improved, and the U.S. became India’s greatest trade partner, though that title has now been taken by China. During George W. Bush’s administration, the United States fully supported India’s nuclear program, though only in the civil sector for energy purposes. As India was not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, no country would sell uranium to India. Bush lifted this ban and thus India’s energy program could rapidly accelerate, automatically lifting the U.S. President to hero status.
Currently, there is complete bipartisan support in India for increased relations with the United States, though America has yet to appoint a full time ambassador to India. Obama’s priorities are far more domestic in nature than his predecessor and even in foreign policy he is choosing to focus more on China than India. However, barring all political and governmental issues, the people to people relations between the two countries have historically been excellent. According to our lecturer, irrespective of the government policies in the past few decades, the people of India continued to love the United States. India gets 50% of the United States’ short term visas and 44% of its total long term visas. Indian students used to outnumber all other foreign students in the United States, until the number of Chinese students dramatically increased. There are 2.7 million American-Indians in the United States, representing one of the largest minorities in the whole country.
Having been in India for approximately four weeks now, I can testify to the Indian people’s positive view of the United States. In certain areas of China, we claimed that we were Canadian in order to dispel any potential negative feelings. In India, the common question, “where are you coming from?” is always, and easily, answered with, “America!” The response is usually greeted with a noncommittal head motion by the Indian, coupled with a smile. Also, many people know about American music and movies and tend to have a good notion of the geography of the United States, unlike American students who typically know nothing about India. Though there is certainly a difference between the urban young and those who live in the villages, far removed from foreign pop culture, the general relationship between the United States and India does appear to be positive in most aspects.
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