{ "id": "R44876", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44876", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 462148, "date": "2017-06-19", "retrieved": "2017-08-22T14:15:58.426146", "title": "India-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress", "summary": "India will soon be the world\u2019s most populous country, home to about one of every six people. Many factors combine to infuse India\u2019s government and people with \u201cgreat power\u201d aspirations: the Asian giant\u2019s rich civilization and history, expanding strategic horizons, energetic global and international engagement, critical geography (with more than 9,000 total miles of land borders, many of them disputed) astride vital sea and energy lanes, major economy (at times the world\u2019s fastest growing) with a rising middle class and an attendant boost in defense and power projection capabilities (replete with a nuclear weapons arsenal and triad of delivery systems), and vigorous science and technology sectors, among others.\nIn recognition of India\u2019s increasingly central role and ability to influence world affairs\u2014and with a widely-held assumption that a stronger and more prosperous democratic India is good for the United States in and of itself\u2014the U.S. Congress and two successive U.S. Administrations have acted both to broaden and deepen America\u2019s engagement with New Delhi. Such engagement is unprecedented after decades of Cold War-era estrangement and today takes place \u201cacross the spectrum of human endeavor for a better world,\u201d as described in a 2015 U.S.-India Declaration of Friendship. Washington and New Delhi launched a \u201cstrategic partnership\u201d in 2005, along with a framework for long-term defense cooperation that now includes large-scale joint military exercises and significant defense trade. Bilateral trade and investment have increased while a relatively wealthy Indian-American community is exercising newfound domestic political influence, and Indian nationals account for a large proportion of foreign students on American college campuses and foreign workers in the information technology sector.\nYet more engagement has meant more areas of friction in the partnership, many of which attract congressional attention. India\u2019s economy, while slowly reforming, continues to be a relatively closed one, with barriers to trade and investment deterring foreign business interests. Differences over U.S. immigration law, especially in the area of nonimmigrant work visas, remain unresolved; New Delhi views these as trade disputes. India\u2019s intellectual property protection regime comes under regular criticism from U.S. officials and firms. The June 2017 announcement of U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change dismayed many in India and brought into question significant ongoing bilateral collaboration in the energy field. Other stumbling blocks\u2014on localization barriers and civil nuclear commerce, among others\u2014add to sometimes argumentative associations. Meanwhile, cooperation in the fields of defense trade, intelligence, and counterterrorism, although vastly superior to that of only a decade ago, runs up against the obstacles variously posed by India\u2019s bureaucracy, limited governmental capacity, difficult procurement process, seemingly incompatible federal institutions, and a lingering shortage of trust, not least due to America\u2019s ongoing security relationship with and aid to India\u2019s key rival, Pakistan. Finally, Members of Congress take notice of human rights abuses in India, perhaps especially those related to religious freedom.\nDespite these many areas of sometimes serious discord, the U.S. Congress has remained broadly positive in its posture toward the U.S.-India strategic and commercial partnership. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has thus far issued amicable rhetoric overall (with some lapses) that suggests an intention to maintain the general outlines of recent U.S.-India ties. \nThis report reviews the major facets of current U.S.-India relations, particularly in the context of congressional interest. It discusses areas in which perceived U.S. and Indian national interests converge and areas in which they diverge; other leading Indian foreign relations that relate to U.S. interests; the outlines of bilateral engagement in defense, trade, and investment relations, as well as important issues involving energy, climate change; and human rights concerns. 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