This SDG will explore the relationship between the United States and India from 1945 until the current day. The core book is A Matter of Trust: India-US Relations From Truman to Trump, by Meenakshi Ahamed. The U.S. and India are two countries that conceptually seem destined to be partners but have for decades held remarkably divergent worldviews and all too often pursued conflicting objectives. Among the issues that must be examined are: Pakistan vs. India, religion, caste, non-alignment, the cold war, the U.S. alliance with Pakistan, China's invasion of India, India's overtures to the USSR, India's domestic policy reforms, the end of the cold war, India looking west, education, Bill Clinton's recognition of India's importance, nuclear proliferation, George W. Bush's overtures to India, the influence of the Indian diaspora, Obama building on the Bush years, the changes brought by Trump and Modi and what may be ahead for each country and their relationship. Meenakshi Ahamed draws on a unique trove of presidential papers, newly declassified documents, memoirs and interviews with officials directly involved in events on both sides. Join Us.
1. Part One: 1945-1947. Chapter 1. Grhapravesham, 2. A Match for Meenatchi and 3. No Secret Amour.
2. Part Two: 1945-1947, 4. Truman and Nehru: A Culture Clash and 5. Eisenhower: Vying for Asia.
3. 6. Nehru and the Kennedys and 7. The War with China.
4. Part Three: 1964-1976. 8. Johnson and Shastri: All Too Brief and 9. Mrs. Gandhi: Wages of Resentment.
5. 10. Nixon: Tortured Relations and 11. Ford: India Goes Nuclear.
6. 12. The Indian Emergency. Part Four: 1977-1991. 13, Carter: Wishful Thinking, 14. Afghanistan: The Great Game Continues and 15. Mrs. Gandhi and Reagan: A Tentative Thaw.
7. 16. Shifting Winds and 17. Bush 41: The End of an Era.
8. Part Five; 1991-2020. 18. Rao and Clinton: Economic Reforms and 19. 9/11 A changed World.
9. Bush 43: The Big Transformation, 21. Obama and India: Deepening Ties, 22. Trump: An Unpredictable President and Epilogue.
10. Biden Modi and beyond. Biden's Problem With India https://thediplomat.com/2022/04/bidens-problem-with-india/.
America Has Never Really Understood India https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/joe-biden-narendra-modi-us-india/629823/.
What to Know About Modi’s Visit and U.S.-India Relations https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/world/asia/modi-visit-us-india-biden.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.
The World's Largest Democracy Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes. https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/21/23683842/india-democracy-narendra-modi-us-biden-china.
Modi's India Where Global Democracy Dies, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/24/opinion/india-modi-democracy.html?smid=url-share.
Meenakshi Ahamed, A Matter of Trust: India-US Relations From Truman to Trump, Harper Collins Publishers India, 2021.
Biden's Problem With India https://thediplomat.com/2022/04/bidens-problem-with-india/.
America Has Never Really Understood Inida https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/joe-biden-narendra-modi-us-india/629823/.
What to Know About Modi’s Visit and U.S.-India Relations https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/world/asia/modi-visit-us-india-biden.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.
The World's Largest Democracy Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes. https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/21/23683842/india-democracy-narendra-modi-us-biden-china.
Modi's India Where Global Democracy Dies, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/24/opinion/india-modi-democracy.html?smid=url-share.