South Asia Monitor: India and the United States: Turning a Corner - August 1, 2005

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's just completed visit to Washington marks a new departure in relations between the United States and India already undergoing major transformation for more than a decade. The agreement on nuclear cooperation between the two countries represents a potentially historic willingness on both sides to accommodate each other's concerns and could change the priorities and operation of the nonproliferation system. Implementing it will require a great deal of work, especially on the U.S. side. The low profile of India-Pakistan issues during this visit reflects a strong interest in having U.S. relations with India and Pakistan stand on their own without being linked. But it should not be misread as lack of U.S. interest in their peace dialogue.