Continued Primacy, Diminished Will: Indian Assessments of U.S. Power

June 16, 2011

India’s accelerating economic growth and the end of the Cold War have dramatically changed the way it looks at the world and at the United States. Since about 1990, India’s perception of its international interests has placed greater weight on the country’s economic potential, which in turn has become much more closely intertwined with the global economy and specifically with the United States. India’s security perceptions traditionally revolved around its land borders and its concerns with Pakistan and China. India’s defenses were largely based on its continental character, centered around a large land army. Both its economic and security concerns are now shaped much more by the maritime environment of the Indian Ocean. The traditional rivalries with Pakistan and China are still critical, but the one with China has the primary strategic importance and extends beyond the military realm into economic performance and global presence. The United States, which had a thin and mercurial relationship with India during the Cold War years, has now eclipsed Russia to become India’s most important external partner.