ABSTRACT
The visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India in March 2005 generated a tsunami of sound bites. If we were to be guided by the rhetoric alone, US-India relations in the economic, energy, and security domains are being fundamentally transformed, perhaps irreversibly. According to Rice, the two countries “are becoming in many ways important global partners as well as regional partners.”1 On more than one occasion, the visiting dignitary insisted that “India is emerging as not just a regional power but as a global power”2 and that it was now a major factor “in the international economy, in international politics, taking on more and more global responsibilities.”3 A few days after Rice’s visit, a senior US official, in an anonymous interview with Agence FrancePresse, stated that it was the “goal” of the United States “to help India become a major world power in the 21st century,” adding that the United States understood fully “the implications, including military implications, of that statement.”4 David C. Mulford, the US ambassador to India, confirmed that the anonymous interview did indeed represent official US policy and that the US-India bilateral relationship would be transformed “into a true strategic partnership.”5 Mulford added, “We want to develop habits of cooperation and a level of confidence that characterizes US relations with our closest friends and allies.”6
