Introduction

American entry in India – until the culmination of the India-China war of 1962 that signifies the beginning of US strategic retreat from India. The two great historic events of the twentieth century were the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the emergence of the United States that enjoyed ‘unprecedented prosperity, stability and wealth’. The impact of the October Revolution on India’s political economy is widely covered. The discussions between Indian and Soviet planning experts in the mid-1950s are projected as the harbinger of Soviet intellectual influence on India’s mixed-economy model. The predominance of such narrative obscures the influence of American capital and ideology on the Indian political economy in the first decade after independence. America not only occupies limited space in India’s postcolonial historiography, but also its role in the last phase of India’s struggle against Britain remains latent. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.