ABSTRACT
In the post Cold War period the world has more or less become unipolar with the United States as the only super power. India is a large country with a population in excess of one billion, a healthy and rapidly growing economy, a high level of technological aptitude, and a large professional defense force. The United States and India are the world’s two largest democracies and have been the most pressing champions for democratic reform. To examine the future of Indo-US cooperation in multilateral or bilateral peacekeeping operations, it is necessary to scan, albeit briefly, the political and defense relationship between the two states since politics would dictate the level of cooperation and defense forces would, more often than not, be the lead agency in executing peacekeeping operations. With that, it is imperative to examine the direction of Indo-US defense ties, a relationship that has sometimes been compared to a plane on the tarmac-it must either take off or remain stranded.
