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FATEFUL TRIANGLE
How China Shaped U.S.-India Relations during the Cold War
TANVI MADAN
BROOKINGS INSTITUTION PRESS
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2020
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Madan, Tanvi, author.
Title: Fateful triangle : how China shaped U.S.-India relations during the Cold War / Tanvi Madan.
Description: Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, [2020]
Identifiers: LCCN 2019026909 (print) | LCCN 2019026910 (ebook) | ISBN 9780815737711 (paperback) | ISBN 9780815737728 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: United States—Foreign relations—India. | India—Foreign relations—United States. | United States—Foreign relations—China. | China—Foreign relations—United States. | United States—Foreign relations—1945-1989. | Cold War.
Classification: LCC E183.8.I4 M235 2020 (print) | LCC E183.8.I4 (ebook) | DDC 327.73054—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026909
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026910
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To Mummy, Papa, and Nidhi
Contents
4 1. The Orientation in the Orient (1949–1952)
7 3. The Pandit and the President (1956–1958)
8 4. Semi-detached Ally? (1959–1962)
9 PART III. DEPENDENCE AND DISILLUSIONMENT
10 5. Bread or Bombs (1963–1965)
11 6. Playing It a Bit Cooler (1965–1968)
13 7. Fluid New World (1969–1972)
14 8. Looking Both Ways (1973–1979)
15 Conclusion
16 Notes
17 Bibliography
18 Index
Acknowledgments
This book’s origin story lies at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas. Perusing White House papers, I was struck that officials, including the president, kept mentioning China while discussing India. Much had been written about India-Pakistan hyphenation from that era. But while India-China hyphenation is common in Washington today, there had been little mention of American policymakers viewing India through a China prism during the Cold War. I was intrigued. And I wanted to know if the Johnson administration discussions were a one-off and whether the linkage was one sided; that is, had policymakers in Delhi, too, connected India’s China and US relationships? Those questions started me on a journey toward a doctoral dissertation and eventually this book. It took a village to get me through this voyage, and to its denizens I am eternally grateful.
At the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, I was fortunate to have a doctoral committee that gave me constructive feedback and support. Frank Gavin, Will Inboden, Mark Lawrence, Jim Steinberg, Jeremi Suri, and Kate Weaver’s guidance greatly enriched this work. Historians, political scientists, and policy practitioners, they gave me the space to pursue research that might not please a disciplinary purist but will hopefully contribute in its own way to the academic and policy worlds. A special thanks to Jim, who has been an adviser, boss, and mentor. He encouraged me to develop an expertise on India, which I had resisted in the quest to be a national security generalist, and challenged me to take on this project, which initially seemed too ambitious.
I cannot say enough about the Brookings Institution, which has been my intellectual and professional home for several years and where I completed this project. Its scholars and staff are not just some of the smartest people I know, but also some of the nicest. I am grateful for their support and scholarship, as well as their friendship. I would particularly like to thank Strobe Talbott and Martin Indyk for showing immense faith in me as a young scholar and for their indispensable support. Bruce Jones, as head of the foreign policy program, has been very supportive of my work. Special thanks also to
