IS INDIA THE " NEW CHINA" IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY?

The University of Washington International Law Journal's timely symposium explores the strains in the U.S.-China political and economic relationship. As China and the United States become estranged, or "decoupled," this essay explores the United States' relationship with India in light of this trend. The U.S.-India foreign relations are stronger today than they have been in India's 75-year history as an independent nation.2 To understand why this is the case, we have to examine both the U.S. and Indian foreign policy perspectives. The United States' interest in India has grown in part due to the United States' own changes in domestic policy and motivations to counter China. It is only in the more recently that India has been open to a stronger partnership with the United States due largely to political and economic changes in the country.