Engaging India Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb

Abstract

On May 11, 1998 , three nuclear devices exploded under Thar, or Great Indian Desert, shaking surrounding villages--and rest of world. The immediate effect was to plunge U.S.-India relations, already vexed by decades of tension and estrangement, into a new acrimonious standoff. The situation deteriorated further when Pakistan responded with a test of its own two weeks later. Engaging India is revealing, authoritative account of intensive talks that United States conducted on parallel tracks with South Asian nuclear powers over next two and a half years. Bill Clinton's point man for that high-stakes diplomacy takes us behind scenes of one of most intriguing and consequential political dramas of our time, reconstructing what happened--and why--with narrative verve, rich human detail, and penetrating analysis. From June 1998 through September 2000, in most extensive engagement ever between United States and India, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh met fourteen times in seven countries on three continents. They grappled with urgent issue of arms control and nonproliferation, but they also discussed their visions for U.S.-Indian relationship, potential for economic and strategic cooperation between two countries, and implications of Hindu nationalism for evolution of Indian society, politics, and security. Their personal rapport helped raise level of trust between two governments. As a result, United States was able to play a crucial role in defusing crisis between India and Pakistan over contested territory of Kashmir in summer of 1999--thus, perhaps, averting a war that could have escalated to nuclear conflagration. The Talbott-Singh dialogue laid ground for Clinton's transformational visit to South Asia in March 2000. That presidential journey opened a new chapter in relations between United States and India. It also set scene for U.S. cooperation with both India and Pakistan in war against terror after September 11, 2001. In addition to providing an insider's perspective on a fascinating and instructive episode in diplomatic history, story told here is vital background for understanding what happens next in a region that is home to nearly a quarter of humanity and that was, at beginning of twenty-first century, the most dangerous place on earth.

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