A Matter Of Trust

Meenakshi Ahamed draws on a unique trove of presidential papers, newly declassified documents, memoirs and interviews with officials directly involved in events on both sides to put together this illuminating account of their relationship that has far-reaching implications for the changing global political landscape.

I thought India was pretty jammed with poor people and cows wandering around the streets, witch doctors and people sitting on hot coals and bathing in the Ganges, but I did not realize that anybody thought it was important.' – PRESIDENT TRUMAN TO AMBASSADOR CHESTER BOWLES, 1951

From Truman's remark to now, it has been a long journey. India and the US, which share common values and should have been friends, found themselves trapped in a dysfunctional cycle of resentment and mistrust for the first few decades following Indian independence. In A Matter of Trust, author Meenakshi Ahamed reveals the personal prejudices and insecurities of the leaders, and the political imperatives, that so often cast a shadow over their relationship.

The cycle began with India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who viewed Americans as naive and insular, and President Truman, who dismissed Nehru as a communist. But it was under Indira Gandhi that India would enter the darkest phase of its relations with the US. In recently declassified White House tapes, Nixon is heard expressing his hatred not just towards Mrs Gandhi but all Indians. It was only after India undertook major reforms in the 1990s and became an economic powerhouse that the relationship improved. A partnership was cemented when President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the historic nuclear deal in 2008.

Meenakshi Ahamed draws on a unique trove of presidential papers, newly declassified documents, memoirs and interviews with officials directly involved in events on both sides to put together this illuminating account of India-US relationship, which has far-reaching implications for the changing global political landscape.