US Strategy and India Interest, Policy and Media: A Study with Special Reference to India’s Territorial Conflicts

Shanta Nedungadi Varma

US-India relations have traversed vast and uneven terrain to forge a comprehensive strategic partnership today. They have also spanned a wide spectrum of change.

The book unravels a range of Washington’s attitudes towards India over half a century, focussing on India’s international territorial conflicts, covering both the Cold War and post Soviet periods.

This work attempts an exciting dual level analysis of the dynamic interface between interest, policy and media projections. At one level, the changing global, geopolitical, strategic and domestic compulsions that informed US responses to India’s conflicts with Portugal over Goa, the Chinese aggression and Pakistan’s aggressions in Kutch, Kashmir, and most recently Kargil are examined. They range from Cold War strategic prisms and India’s power status to post-Soviet mutualities spurred by globalisation and terror.

The revelations are of critical contemporary relevance because while the Cold War ended long back, false narratives entrenched through media imperialism continue. Images need urgent corrective reconstruction as India’s strategic space continues to be sharply compromised.

Shanta Nedungadi Varma Prof. Shanta Nedungadi Varma has engaged extensively on core areas of India’s foreign and security policies, global security, media and environment. A distinguished scholar, nominated International Visitor to the US, and Fellow at Columbia University, Council on Foreign Relations among others, she was Shastri Fellow, Carleton University, Ottawa.

Over four decades of teaching at University of Delhi saw her supervise over 40 research scholars (Ph.D/M.Phil) at its Department of Political Science. Essaying advisory roles on boards and committees, national and international, she was Visiting Fellow at universities like Heidelberg and Hankuk.

An alumni of Lady Shri Ram College and University of Delhi (Ph.D), her publications include the book Foreign Policy Dynamics—Moscow and India.

Awarded Senior Fellow, Australia-India Council, she worked on Climate Change at several Australian universities. Prof. Shanta Nedungadi Varma is also a scholar of Indian classical traditions.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Sourcing US Policy: Cold War, India and the Negative Narrative
2. Media, Foreign Policy and Image
3. The Liberation of Goa: Geopolitics, Hype and False Images
4. The Chinese Aggression: Complex Interests, Arm-Twisting and Bi-Focal Images
5. Pakistan’s Aggressions in Kutch and Kashmir: US Geostrategy and Media Distortions
6. Kargil: New Global Dynamics, Interests and Image Reconstruction
Conclusion
Index