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Indo – US relations

By – Phanindra Moola

The relationship between India and the United States is an interesting area to study and research. The relationship has faced many ups and downs.

In this article, we will discuss about this relationship in depth and various aspects of it.

Background –

Establishment of diplomatic relations –

On 15^th August 1947, India gained its independence from Britain. The same day, the United States recognised India as an independent state. On 1^st November 1946, the US established its diplomatic relations and embassy in New Delhi.

Relations in the Cold war era –

During the cold war era (1945 – 1991), India maintained the policy of non-alignment meaning that New Delhi was neither on the side of the Soviets nor of the Americans. However, it did maintain relations with both Moscow and Washington. However, in the context of Indo-US relations, the relationship was more or less estranged.

On October 13^th 1949, India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited the US. This visit marked India’s proclamation of Non – Alignment in the Cold war era. Later, on February 10^th 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. or MLK Jr., the leader of the US civil rights movement, visited India for a month. He was significantly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s method of non-violence for achieving independence. In his visit, he met PM Nehru, Gandhi’s family friends, and scholars. After returning to the US, King described the trip that reaffirmed his commitment to non-violent resistance and called it as “the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and humanity”.

In the same year, on 9^th December 1959, President Dwight. D. Eisenhower became the first serving US president to visit India. In the visit, he met with President Rajendra Prasad and PM Nehru, and addresses the Parliament.

During the Sino-Indian war of 1962, PM Nehru wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy or JFK to provide support to India. Agreeing on that, the US provided aerial assistance and arms. It also recognised the Mc Mahon line as the legitimate borderline between India and China.

Indo – Pak conflict –

Since independence, India and Pakistan had tensions over the territory of Kashmir. The tensions led to 3 major wars between both the countries. In this matter, the US provided support to Pakistan. Islamabad was a part of the US led alliances such as SEATO (South Asia Treaty Organisation) and CENTO (Central Treaty Organisation).

On this matter, India and the US significantly differed. Prior to the Indo-Pak war of 1971, the US under President Richard Nixon, sent his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to China secretly under Operation Marco Polo through Pakistan.  The China – Pakistan – US axis made India go to the Soviet Union. In August 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Moscow and signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation for a period of 20 years. The treaty assured India of a superpower’s support in case of any attack.

After the war, the relations between both the countries degraded severely. The US cutoff economic aid to India. India was already facing major problems such as unemployment, population growth, a slow growing economy, and political crisis. All these internal problems combined with global upheavals such as the Arab – Israeli war of 1973, leading to increased global oil prices, made the country’s situation very dire.

Nuclear Program –

On 18^th May 1974, India tested its first nuclear weapon under operation Laughing Buddha, making it the first nation outside the 5 nuclear powers to have a nuclear weapon. This test estranged the relations for 2 decades.

On March 10^th 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Act. The act called upon states who are not a part of the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) to allow inspection of their nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This was refused by India. India’s refusal led to the suspension of Washington’s nuclear assistance.

During PM Indira Gandhi’s visit to the US, she emphasised the differences between both the states in her speech at the White House. However, she said that both the states should “find a common area, how so ever small”. The leaders ended up in an understanding and resolved their dispute over the 4-year blockade imposed by the US for supplying the low-enriched nuclear fuel required for the Tarapur Nuclear Power Station. Two years later, A high-level visit led by Vice – President George H.W. Bush was made to New Delhi.

After the second nuclear test in 1998, the US imposed sanctions on India.

Relations in the Post Cold – War era –

Bill Clinton’s visit to India –

On March 20^th 2000, US President Bill Clinton visited India. The visit marked the warming of ties between the two states. In this visit, the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum was established. The visit also ended the period of estrangement post – 1998 nuclear test. It also made the US go further away from Pakistan.

US lifting of sanctions on India –

The George W. Bush Administration lifted all the remaining sanctions on India, which were imposed on it after the 1998 nuclear test. In 1999, the Congress authorised the President to remove all the sanctions on India.

Indo – US Civil Nuclear Cooperation deal –

The Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation deal was a major turning point in the relationship. The deal was signed in 2008. According to the deal, India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities. It also agreed to place all its civil resources under the supervision of IAEA. In exchange, the US agreed to work for full Civil Nuclear cooperation with India.

The Congress gave its final approval of the deal in October 2008.

Upliftment of ties –

In 2005, the US uplifted its ties with India to a strategic partnership and later on it was elevated to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in 2020.

Relations in the present times –

With the return of former US President Donald Trump in office, the US started implementing measures which made all the states uncertain over their relationship with Washington. After Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US. In the visit, President Trump criticised India’s tariff policy and reiterated his stance that it will reciprocal tariffs from the US.

In the recent times, the US took some measures which bought a big blow to India’s economy. One of the prominent measures was that of removal of the waiver over India’s usage of Iran’s Chabahar Port which was implemented in 2018. The waiver allowed India to use the port without facing any US sanctions.

Additionally, the US doubled the tariffs on India over its import of Russian oil. The initial 25% tariff had an inclusion of additional 25 % over its oil imports, totalling the tariff to 50%. This is largely seen as an effort of the US to stop the ongoing war in Ukraine as the war drags on with no end in sight.

The tariffs led to start of negotiations between India and the US, which aim at concluding a trade deal between both the states. However, the negotiations are still ongoing causing uncertainty.

Indo – Pak conflict of 2025 –

In May 2025, India and Pakistan had a brief conflict of 4 days after a terror proxy outfit of Lashkar – e – Taiba (LeT) named “The Resistance Front” (TRF) launched a terror attack in the Indian town of Pahalgam in Southern Jammu on April 22^nd 2025. The attack led to death of 26 Indian tourists and 1 Nepali.

In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, in which the Indian Air Force targeted 9 terror camps located inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) triggering conflict between both the countries.

In this, President Trump claimed to have ended the conflict by phone call with both the leaders. The claim was denied by India, calling that the conflict was halted bilaterally, with talks between the DGMOs (Director-General of Military Operations) of both the militaries.

Despite all this, both New Delhi and Washington continue to cooperate in other areas as well. Which we will discuss in the following section.

Areas of Cooperation between India and the US –

As discussed above, both the states continue to work together in various areas which are as follows:

1. Defense –

This is one of the important areas of cooperation between New Delhi and Washington. Both the states continue to conduct military exercises such as Exercise Tiger TRIUMPH, which is a bilateral tri-service humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise.

Over the last two decades, the US emerged as a major supplier of defense equipment to India.

Additionally, both the countries sign a 10-year defense framework which started with Agreed Minute on Defense Relations in 1995.

According to a data of India’s defense imports from 2019 – 2024, 13% of India’s defense imports came from the US after Russia.

India’s defense imports include aircraft such as C-130 Hercules, Chinook Helicopters, Apache AH-64 helicopters, UAVs such as MQ-9 Reaper, assault rifles such as M4- Carbine, SIG Sauer, etc.

1. QUAD –

QUAD or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a group of 4 countries in the Indo-Pacific which are India, Japan, Australia, and the United States. The idea of the group was given by the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who proposed for a group which ensured “a free and open indo-pacific”

QUAD conducts major exercises such as the Malabar Naval Exercise. The group also focuses on areas such as AI, Climate Change, etc.

In the recent years, the cooperation between all the four countries have deepened in response to Beijing’s growing aggression.

• Energy –

One of the most important aspects of Indo-US energy cooperation is that of the Indo-US Civil Nuclear cooperation deal.

In November 2009, the United States and India launched the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE), which aims to accelerate inclusive, low-carbon growth by supporting research and deployment of clean energy technologies.

During the first bilateral summit in September 2014, PM Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama announced to strengthen and expand PACE through a series of initiatives.

Another area of cooperation is that of the US – India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership. This was established in 2021 at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate. The SCEP was established in accordance of the US – India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda of 2030.

The SCEP focuses on energy security and innovation with greater scaling up emerging clean energy technologies; finding solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors; and deploying technical solutions. emphasis on electrification and decarbonization of processes and end uses; scaling up emerging clean energy technologies; finding solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors; and deploying technical solutions.

Recently, India signed a deal with the United States, according to which New Delhi will buy 10% of its total LPG imports from the US. India called the deal as a way to diversify its energy sources.

1. Science & Technology –

The United States and India are cooperating in the area of science and technology through various means such as forums, R & D, etc. One of the prime examples for forums is the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSTF). The main aim of the forum is to promote science, technology, engineering, and innovation through interaction with the government, industry, and academia.

Similarly, in 2022, the US and India announced the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) and was officially launched in January 2023. The forum is being run by the NSAs both the states. Under this, both the states have identified 6 areas of cooperation which will include co-development and co-production. This will be gradually expanded into QUAD, Europe, and rest of the world.

The 6 areas of cooperation are:

1. AI research agency partnership.
2. Defense industrial cooperation, defense technological cooperation, and defense startups.
3. Innovation Ecosystems.
4. Semiconductor ecosystem development.
5. Cooperation on human spaceflight.
6. Advancement in 5G and 6G technologies, and adoption of OpenRAN Network Technologies in India.

Both the states have closely cooperated in the areas of AI, Semiconductors, Quantum Technology, Telecom and 6G, etc.

Conclusion –

In conclusion, India and the United States do have some areas of frictions. However, the relationship still continues to endure and collaborate in various other areas. A trade deal between both the states will ease the tensions between New Delhi and Washington. Additionally, the Indian import of Russian oil is also a matter of tension between them.

Henceforth, there is a necessity to conclude a comprised trade deal which will fulfil the interests between both the states. Similarly, there is need of a compromise on the matter of Russian oil import. The resolution of these matters will give a path forward for a greater Indo-American cooperation.

Sources –

1. Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) –

https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-india-relations

2. Drishti IAS –

https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/us-india-initiative-on-critical-and-emerging-technology

3. Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) –

https://iusstf.org/vision-mission-objectives

4. Statista –

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1345382/india-share-of-defense-import-by-country/?srsltid=AfmBOoqTBHPRN1C3WFqPseS-2HowN1Q6TKrVcC3SjarT4-6VT8_myj6K

5. United States Department of Energy –

https://www.energy.gov/ia/us-india-energy-cooperation#:~:text=Security%20&%20Safety,India’s%20ambitious%20clean%20energy%20targets.

6. Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) –

https://www.csis.org/programs/chair-india-and-emerging-asia-economics/projects/us-india-defense-relations

7. Office of the Historian –

https://history.state.gov/countries/india