In the mid-1990s, India established an economic reform programme, initiated and sustained by a skilled yet quiet political leadership. This text provides an analysis of India's recent foreign policy, especially towards the United States.

In the time between 1998 and the publication of this text, India held two national elections and began the second phase of economic reforms. This work examines these political, economic, social and cultural developments in India from 1998 to the end of 2000.

Since 2001, India has gained new attention as an emerging world power with a rapidly growing economy, a world-class science and technology sector, and a huge English-speaking labor pool. After a period of escalating tension with neighbor Pakistan, wide-ranging peace talks are underway. Within India, there is an unprecedented mood of optimism about the future. At the same time, the nation wrestles with difficult questions about the place of secularism in society, the role it sees for itself globally and within Asia, and the reality that millions of Indians still live at the subsistence level. This volume of India Briefing examines India's changing fortunes through chapters that cover the economy; the twists and turns of domestic politics; labor in the large informal sector; the cultural roots of Hindu nationalism; the foreign relations rollercoaster; the business of Bollywood; and a special chapter on the range of new resources about India available on the web.

This edition marks the 50th anniversary of Indian independence and the 10th anniversary of the series. It provides analysis of and context for political, economic, social and cultural developments in India, and considers what past trends may indicate for the future.

In the mid-1990s, India established an economic reform programme, initiated and sustained by a skilled yet quiet political leadership. This text provides an analysis of India's recent foreign policy, especially towards the United States.

Since 1998, India has held two national elections, begun the second phase of economic reforms, and grown in global stature as the intellectual training ground for Silicon Valley. With their new prominence, Indian Americans are increasingly effecting change in India through their financial and intellectual clout. In another sphere, India now occupies a special place in the literary world as Indian writers in English gain in prominence and numbers. India has also found itself the new ground zero of the next AIDS crisis. And reciprical state visits by President Clinton and India's Prime Minister Vajpayee have ushered in a new spirit of Indo-U.S. cooperation. This edition of India Briefing covers these most recent political, economic, social, and cultural developments in India from 1998 through the end of 2000.

India Briefing, 1989 is the third in a series of annual assessments of key events and issues in Indian affairs prepared by the Contemporary Affairs Department of The Asia Society. It covers the year's developments in Indian politics, foreign policy, and the economy.