US Foreign Policy Toward South Asia
24 Jan 2013
Despite being an important theater of superpower competition during the Cold War, South Asia has historically been a secondary concern of American foreign policy. Although an ongoing strategic partnership -- announced in 2004 -- between Washington and New Dehli represents a shift in the pattern of US engagement in the region, the much-discussed ‘pivot toward Asia’ may initially have suggested that South Asia would again be overshadowed by other regions, notably China and the Asia-Pacific, in the minds of American policy-makers. As the documents presented today indicate, however, this secondary role no longer seems likely. First, stressing the themes of regional integration through trade facilitation and infrastructure projects like the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor, Geoffrey Pyatt, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, outlines the vital economic importance of South Asia for US policy towards the continent as a whole. This is followed by a statement on relations with India in particular from Deputy Secretary William Burns which emphasizes continued strategic cooperation and economic and people-to-people exchange between the two countries. For recent, in-depth overviews of US relations with both India and Pakistan, see the attached reports from the Congressional Research Service.
Table of Contents (with links)
US - South Asia Relations: A Vision for the Future
The US and India: A Vital Partnership in a Changing World
Pakistan - US Relations
India: Domestic Issues, Strategic Dynamics, and US Relations
Recommended Readings
external pageUS- India Strategic Partnership: A Way Forward
external pageKey Developments in South Asia