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Analysis: U.S.-India Relations Face Serious Challenges

Council on Foreign Relations

October 17, 2007
Prepared by: Jayshree Bajoria

The nuclear deal between India and the United States has run into its biggest crisis yet and appears close to collapse (WashPost). It marks a huge loss of credibility (Bloomberg) for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who tried to save face by saying "if it doesn't come through that is not the end of life." But Singh’s inability to push the deal through India’s parliament will be a big disappointment for the Bush administration, too, which has hailed the deal since its July 2005 inception as a historic initiative with long-term implications (NYTimes.com) for U.S. influence in Asia.

The nuclear pact has enjoyed central position in a much broader strategic relationship between India and the United States that includes expanding ties in trade, business, defense, space, energy, environment, democracy and development. U.S. Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns writes in the current issue of Foreign Affairs that the rise of a new U.S.-India strategic relationship is "one of the most significant and positive developments in international politics." The possible demise of the deal, however, raises questions about the viability of a U.S. strategy which seeks to play a so-called India card, as this Policy Review article dubbed it in 2002, to balance China’s rising military power in the region. Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow Lisa Curtis says (BBC) the deal’s failure would make "it highly unlikely for any future U.S. administration to contemplate major initiatives with India."

The deal had faced several bumps and roadblocks along the way from diverse quarters. But the left-wing bloc in India’s parliament, comprised primarily of the Communist parties who form part of the ruling coalition, posed the largest hurdle.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2007 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.