ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses the issue of congressional opinion and its impact on American foreign policy formulation. It analyzes what is available on Indian public opinion toward the United States (US), and looks at the same subject from the opposite perspective—namely, how the American public has viewed India. The book explores how India ran afoul of congressional opinion on the nuclear nonproliferation issue. It shows how consistently the American public has been more favorably disposed toward India than has the official establishment. The book outlines the Lillian Carter presidency, the US-Indian relationship nevertheless continued to experience the characteristic undulations between mutual irritation and agonizing rapprochement. Recognzing the importance of the relationship was further evidence of the growing tendency to soften rhetoric and pursue amity even in the face of severe regional and international crises and bilateral provocations.
