The new US administration must continue the general movement toward normalisation and cooperation with India whose stunning economic performance, skilled leadership and ability to function as a democracy have made it Asia's third great power, a US study on Asia has said.
The study by the San Francisco-based Asia foundation on America's role in Asia said the progress of India and China have brought about a global shift in power -- now economic but later military as well.
"India's stunning economic performance, its considerable "soft" or cultural power, its skilled leadership, and its ability to function as a democracy while undertaking a myriad of internal economic, cultural, social and
political reforms, have made India Asia's third great power," Stephen Cohen, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who headed the task force on South Asia, says in the study.
The next US administration, says Cohen, must continue the general movement toward normalisation and cooperation with India that began in the late 1990s.
Observing that India is no longer seen as a weak state in terms of military capabilities either, he said "its armed forces are highly professional, although they lack modern equipment, they are under firm civilian control, and have successfully fought several wars."
However, the US should not expect India to place its armed forces at the service of American interests, he says.
