The shift in Indian positions on missile defense in the context of the growing transformation of U.S.-Indian relations since the end of the Cold War, and particularly since the advent of the George W. Bush administration, has been remarkable. Factors such as the dissolution of U.S.-Indian antagonism, threats posed by weapons of mass destruction and their associated delivery systems in the hands of hostile states, and the Indian and American desire to forge a new partnership grounded in democratic values and oriented toward promoting geopolitical equilibrium in Asia, have produced a dramatic new acceptance of strategic defenses as conducive to stability on the part of New Delhi. 

In International Security article, “The Evolution of U.S.-Indian Ties: Missile Defense in an Emerging Strategic Relationship,” Carnegie Senior Associate, Ashley J. Tellis argues that what is fascinating about this evolution is the manner in which missile defenses have come to reflect both an example of, and a means toward, the steady improvement in U.S.-Indian ties occurring in recent years. This, in turn, implies that a deepening bilateral relationship has become part of New Delhi's larger solution to increasing India's capacity to defeat those threats requiring active defenses in the future. 

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