Kennedy Administration's India Policy 1961-1963

During John F. Kennedy's office, the contention for hegemony between the U.S.A and the Soviet Union entered a phase of confrontation, when the two parties made great efforts to expand their scopes of power in hopes of obtaining substantial victories. However, the Soviet Union got the upper hand in their competition. In an effort to contain the Soviet Union, Kennedy administration decided to adjust its relationship with neutral countries to strengthen American alliance and furthermore, to regain absolute superiority in their rivalry against the Soviet Union for the domination of the whole world. Asia, an overseas battlefield of Cold War in Europe, triggered the interests of the two parties during this period. And India, as the most representative democratic country and the leader of the nonalignment campaign, promptly became an important object to keenly approach and ally with. Kennedy realized the importance of Indian geographical politics and timely adjusted America's policy towards India: it showed tolerance towards India's neutral position, granted a great deal of help to India's economic development, and adopted a supportive attitude towards India on the issue of border disputes between China and India. Through economic and military assistance to India, Kennedy administration aimed to make India abandon her neutralism and integrate into the Cold War camp so as to become the best potential shield in containing China. Kennedy's policy toward India is of great significance in the sense of breaking through traditional policies. Nevertheless, it did not yield expected results due to a number of subjective and objective factors. Beginning with Sino-Indian border disputes and directed at America's policy towards India during Kennedy's office, this essay attempts to explore the formation, development, and evolution of America's policy towards India as well as the difficulties and mistakes in its implementation during this period in order to reproduce a panorama of the contention for hegemony between the U.S.A and the Soviet Union in south Asia against the general background of Cold War, as well as the characteristics and regularities of the changes in the relationship between America and India. Meanwhile, this essay, on an overall basis, aims to provide an objective analysis and evaluation of the policy from multiple angles. The whole essay is divided into four parts: Part One: Introduce the background and specific considerations taken when Kennedy administration preliminarily formed its policy towards India. Part Two: Relate the adjustment and evolution of Kennedy administration's policy towards India against the backdrop of the breakout of Sino-Indian Border War in 1962, that is, the escalation from economic assistance to military assistance. Part Three: Deliberate over Kennedy administration's policy towards India and give an objective evaluation on it, and make an analysis of various factors affecting the implementation of America's policy towards India during Kennedy's office. Part Four: Conclusion. Make a general statement about the whole evolution context of Kennedy administration's policy towards India and its significance.