In this issue . . .

Building a New Partnership with India

India watchers these days are suffering from a bad case of whiplash. The "buzz" of President Bill Clinton's last year in office-with his dramatic trip to India and Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's return engagement in Washington-has been followed since September 11 by an intense U.S. reengagement with Pakistan. At the same time, the rapid pace of high-level contacts that was established early in President George W. Bush's administration has, if anything, accelerated. High-level Indian visitors to Washington in the last quarter of 2001 included Vajpayee, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra. Senior U.S. government officials who spent time in New Delhi include Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Admiral Dennis Blair, commander in chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific. Expectations are high for a Bush trip to New Delhi in 2002. Longtime students of U.S.-Indian relations marvel at the change of pace and the shift in attitude compared with most of the past 50 years but wonder how this development will mesh with the intensified U.S. interest in Pakistan.

Washington's increased interest in India since the late 1990s reflects India's economic expansion and position as Asia's newest rising power. New Delhi, for its part, is adjusting to the end of the Cold War. As a result, both giant democracies see that they can benefit by closer cooperation. For Washington, the advantages include a wider network of friends in Asia at a time when the region is changing rapidly, as well as a stronger position from which to help calm possible future nuclear tensions in the region. Enhanced trade and investment benefit both countries and are a prerequisite for improved U.S. relations with India. For India, the country's ambition to assume a stronger leadership role in the world and to maintain an economy that lifts its people out of poverty depends critically on good relations with the United States.

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