Q+A-India-U.S. ties past, present and future

The U.S. national security adviser Jim Jones meets his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Friday, against the backdrop of regional instability and India's twitchy relations with U.S. ally Pakistan.

WHERE ARE INDIA-U.S. TIES AT?

New Delhi and Washington are enjoying some of their sweetest ever relations -- thanks in part to the earlier George Bush administration and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Perhaps the biggest leap forward came when both leaders trumped domestic critics to sign a landmark civilian nuclear deal in 2008, worth billions of dollars and ending a 30-year ban on nuclear commerce with India.

Trade has blossomed and years of market reforms have helped India's IT and outsourcing sector feed into the U.S. economy.

HAVE THEY ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDS?

No. In the Cold War era India was a member of the non-aligned movement that in theory was independent from the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

In practice, India bought most of its defence equipment from the Soviets and a chunk of the economy, until liberalisation began in earnest in the early 1990s, was under state control. link...