A friend indeed.

• Author: Blackwill, Robert D.
• Position: U.S. and India partnership

How permanent is the new U.S.-India strategic partnership?

WHILE ONE can argue that no positive bilateral relationship is "permanent" in the very long run, it is safe to say that the alignment between India and the United States is now an enduring part of the international landscape of the 21st century. The vital interests of both Washington and New Delhi are now so congruent that the two countries can and will find many ways in which to cooperate in the decades ahead. Over time, the U.S.-India relationship will come more and more to resemble the intimate U.S. interaction with Japan and our European treaty allies.

It must be stressed that this in no way means that India and the United States will agree on every policy issue. Nor do I foresee any formal treaty of alliance being signed, one that would, say, integrate the two countries' militaries in some sort of cooperative structure like NATO or the U.S.-Japanese security alliance.

And it is going to take time for this relationship to mature--it is not going to happen overnight. For one thing, neither the U.S. nor the Indian bureaucracies at present are yet prepared instinctively to facilitate a deeper and more intimate degree of cooperation between the two countries. Indeed, there are pockets of resistance in both countries which hold a great deal of antipathy toward the very notion of closer U.S.-India strategic ties, particularly among those that deal with nuclear issues--our non-proliferation ayatollahs versus their nuclear scientists. It is going to take leadership and direction from the top to change old habits and attitudes--and the top echelons of the White House, State Department and Pentagon are seriously committed to making this new relationship ever more effective. Over time, the Indian national security perspective is going to exercise increasing influence over the American decision-making process.

I do not anticipate any major ruptures in the future that would reverse the rapprochement between Washington and New Delhi, but there are still a number of factors that could slow down or impede comprehensive cooperation. I am happy to say that a change of government in either the United States or India is not one of them. Significantly, the transformation in U.S.-India relations began under the Bharaiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh grasped the baton. The overwhelming support for the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal by congressional Democrats demonstrates broad bipartisan support for the overall direction charted by the Bush Administration. The importance of pursuing closer ties...