India, Nov. 5 -- Ever since I started reading newspapers, and getting interested in domestic and world events in the 1970s, political commentators have regularly laced their views on the US with invective, vitriolic, and rhetoric, coupled with deep-rooted conspiracy theories. From the 1970s to 1990s, America was largely perceived as a nation that was hostile to India's interests. Remember Indira Gandhi's foreign hand, and both speculations and truthful events about the CIA's meddling in the country, and subcontinent's politics.

A welcome change happened at the beginning of this century, as the perceptions changed from hostility and indifference to a win-win strategic partnership with immense potential. Sadly, this lasted till the beginni...