This work is a study of American foreign policy toward India since 1947. It examines the roles that the United States has played on the South Asian stage during the 45 years that constitute the history of the Cold War. In contrast to the interest that Cold War historians have displayed toward such areas as Europe and the Far East, little has been done with regard to India. Many Indian analyses consist largely of cliches and stereotypes and adopt an intensive tone of moral judgement. With the end of the Cold War in the 1990s the need for this study is more compelling since the politics of the Cold War had so greatly shaped Indo-American relations from the beginning of modern India's independence.