ABSTRACT
The Jimmy Carter presidency saw the pendulum swing both ways—from a high degree of amity and shared aspirations in the initial years to considerable tension on both sides toward the end. In the first years of the Carter administration, it was possible to think that the conditions set by the intersecting rivalries might have changed and changed markedly for the good. Meanwhile on the subcontinent itself, as well, the Carter administration inherited a thaw—or at least a degree of dormancy—in the tensions inherent in the Indo-Pakistani rivalry. Since gaining political independence, Indian policy had leaned heavily toward the development of economic self-reliance through the substitution of domestic production for imports and by measures to protect Indian producers from foreign competition. Although India's exports to the United States (US) were 24 percent of all Indian exports in 1980-1981 and were particularly desired for the hard currency that they earned for India, they were a minuscule portion of all US imports.
