US defence policy places India as a security partner in Asia

From the detachment of the Cold War era to a realignment, long-term interests are driving deeper security ties between the two countries

During the Cold War, depending on the administration in office, India was either seen at worst as a mildly antagonistic state or, at best, a country that was mostly irrelevant to US security concerns. Some administrations, especially in the early Cold War, viewed India’s commitment to non-alignment as downright unhelpful. In fact, President Eisenhower’s staunchly anti-Communist Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, referred to the doctrine as “immoral”. Others thought of it as quaint and pointless. President Richard Nixon and his opportunistic National Security Adviser (and subsequently Secretary of State), Henry Kissinger, were openly hostile towards India, especially after New