Aid to collaboration: a study in Indo-U.S. economic relations

American economic assistance was a major factor in the growth of the Indian economy in the fifties and sixties. India received more than $10 billion as aid from the U. S. A. Under PL 480 programme which accounts for more than fifty percent of the total U. S. assistance to India, the United States supplied agricultural commodities to help fight the famine. However, in recent years the trend is towards trade and co-operation rather than aid. The Generalised Scheme of Preference which came into effect from 1st January 1976, has opened up a greater market for Indian exports of non-traditional items. Besides a large number of U. S.-India joint ventures have come up in the last few years and the U. S. is the second largest foreign investor in India. The possibility of India collaborating with the U. S. A. for establishing industries in the third in construction and capital development projects has brightened. The Indo-U. S. Joint Commission established in 1974 at the Government level and Indo-U. S. Business Council established in 1975 at the industry level have provided institutional frame work for bringing about closer Indo-U. S. economic co-operation.
The author asserts that Indo-U. S. economic relations are important and promising at the present juncture for the prosperity of both the countries in the coming years.