Improving Bilateral Relations

Posted: February 1st, 2016

By Teresita Schaffer

Teresita Schaffer is a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a senior advisor to McLarty Associates, a Washington strategic advising firm. Her 30 year career in the U.S. Foreign Service included postings in New Delhi, Islamabad, as ambassador to Sri Lanka, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East and South Asia. Her book, India at the Global High Table: The Quest for Regional Primacy and Strategic Autonomy, co-authored with her husband, Ambassador Howard Schaffer, will be published in April.

Former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Teresita Schaffer, discussed with The Cipher Brief the continued importance of a close U.S.-India relationship. Schaffer explained India’s tenuous security dynamic with China and Pakistan, and emphasized the importance of continuing active U.S.-Indian consultation and cooperation on East Asian security issues as India shapes its role on the global scene.

The Cipher Brief: Historically, how would you characterize the U.S.-India relationship? How have you seen it change since you were first posted there?

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