The Evolution of the U.S.-India Relationship- Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh to Speak at Yale

Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington D.C., a position he has held since 2008. Fluent in Russian and Japanese, he is a highly experienced diplomat who joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1979, after receiving his Masters Degree in Economics from Delhi University. After teaching there for two years, he spent 1981-1982 at the Embassy of India in Moscow. Other postings abroad have included service at the Indian Missions in Addis Ababa as the Second Secretary from 1982-1985, and a position as the First Secretary for the Embassy in Tokyo from 1985-1988.

Upon his return to Delhi, Ambassador Singh became the Deputy Secretary/Director dealing with East Asia and Pakistan Divisions at the Headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs for the Government of India, from 1988-1991. He later headed the Offices of the Foreign Secretary and the External Affairs Minister of India from 1991-1993.

Ambassador Singh went on to serve at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office in New York as a Counselor, where he dealt with a broad scope of social and economic negotiations from 1993-1997. He returned to Moscow from 1997-2000 as the Counselor/Minister of the Indian Mission.

He spent 2000-2005 as the Joint Secretary, working on United Nations Policy as well as the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran Divisions at the Ministry of External Affairs. Ambassador Singh then took on the role of Ambassador of India to Israel from 2005-2008, where he served until holding his present position as the Deputy Chief of Mission.

Ambassador Singh recently participated in an event held by the Woodrow Wilson International Center of Scholars in Washington D.C. called �Emerging Powers: India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) and the Future of South-South Cooperation,� where he was part of an expert panel which discussed the foreign policy strategies of the IBSA countries as well as their potential to change the future of global governance. He also spoke at a high-level event on Capitol Hill named, �Finding Global Solutions to Climate Change: A Business Perspective,� which was organized by The German Marshall Fund of the United States in order to promote discussion on actions necessary from policymakers and global business in order to create a new global treaty on climate change. His work for the Embassy of India includes many speaking events as well as diplomatic duties.

Ambassador Singh will speak on October 12th at the Macmillan Center, Yale University. The title of his talk is,� India and United States: Estranged, Engaged or Natural Allies�. In his talk, Ambassador Singh will examine the complex relationship over time between India and the United States, as both share similar roots as democracies with an experience of colonialism. However, this common ground did not automatically lead to a warm relationship between the two nations, as India’s non-alignment position during the Cold War and its 1974 nuclear tests put them and the U.S. on opposite sides of a policy divide. These political differences did not impede the steady flow of Indians to U.S. universities and skilled jobs, as cooperation increased in higher education, space, nuclear energy, and agriculture. After the end of the Cold War, the U.S. and India reached a turning point as both countries made an effort to transform their relationship, and both realized the importance of cooperation. As India proved itself as a major economic power and a stable democracy, U.S. interest deepened, leading to a new phase of engagement with India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Obama have both now described the interaction between the two countries as a �natural strategic partnership.� In order to preserve these bonds of friendship and cooperation, they must not be taken for granted but carefully cultivated, so that the United States and India can achieve shared goals together.