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Originally Posted by zraver
Formal- I agree at least for now. But not all alliances are formal.
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Yes, in that way, I think India and the US are natural allies. We have the same ideals and pretty much the same enemies. But anything further, like US bases in India, or an Indo-US defense alliance such as the one US shares with its NATO partners, in my opinion, will not happen. India refused to get into such a relationship with even the Soviets, who heavily supported India in the international arena (Indo-portuguese clash at UN, Indo-US fiasco in the Bay of Bengal in '71, and even kept China checked for the most part); so I don't see India changing its stance anytime soon and getting into such major relationships with any country. Like once, the Colonel said something alone the lines of; US does not get into any pacts in which it does not lead, and India does not get into any pacts in which it is under another nation.
All in all, I think the US and India can and will work together shoulder to shoulder, but one where India supports the US in its sphere of influence and where US supports India in its sphere of influence. [Just stay out of each other's backyards as to say]
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Political conditions today do not automatically forecast political conditions in 5 or 10 or 20 years. India and the US are not enemies and so it is easy to move from friendly to friend, to ally over time. However more importantly increasing US-Indian ties force China to adjust to the possibility of back room deals.
And thats the elegance of modern US diplomacy in the region. It is not centered on alliances but on friendship and potential economic leverage. All the US has to do is keep the other powers neutral and China lacks any strategic depth in the waters around Asia and thus a massive coast line to defend most of which will never be anything but a drain on China's budget. It's a classic defenders dilemma. As long as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Australia, Singapore, Phillipines, and Vietnam are or might be (secret) US Allies China has to defend against them all.
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This, I totally agree with.