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Polygence Scholar2022
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Riya Nagar

National Public School KoramangalaClass of 2023Bangalore, Karnataka

About

Hello! My name is Riya, and my project is titled *'Kennedy and the India Years: Factors Affecting JFK’s Foreign Policy and Dynamic Relationship with India*'. In this project, I analyze this crucial relationship between US and India, understand and describe the factors behind it, and bring up the implementation of historical foreign policies as a framework and resource for international relations today.

Project Portfolio

Kennedy and the India Years: Factors Affecting JFK’s Foreign Policy and Dynamic Relationship with India

Started Oct. 24, 2021

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Abstract or project description

My project focuses on the development of the US-Indian diplomatic relationship during the term of President John F Kennedy. It specifically focuses on the Sino-Indian War of October 1962. The central question of this research project is the following: What were the factors affecting the nature of JFK’s foreign policy and dynamic relationship with India? The methodology in this research project focuses on close reading of three major primary sources: (1) the autobiography of the US ambassadors to India--primarily, John Kenneth Galbraith, (2) the US and Indian newspapers from the 1960s describing the crisis, and (3) official correspondence between the US and Indian heads of state, JFK and the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In this research paper, I suggest that (1) the influence and expertise of John Kenneth Galbraith, (2) the threat of communist China, and (3) Kennedy’s complex personal relationship with Prime Minister Nehru were the major factors shaping the US-India relationship during the Kennedy term.