NEW DELHI -- Catchphrases like "enhanced engagement," "strategic partnership" and "sustained interaction" are bandied about to describe the new U.S.-Indian relationship. A novel, hyperbolic tag, NSSP, or Next Steps in Strategic Partnership, was added to the diplomatic lexicon when on January 13, 2004, then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and U.S. President George W. Bush released matching statements to "enhance cooperation in peaceful uses of space technology . . . and create the appropriate environment for successful high-technology commerce."

Now, a joint statement has proclaimed the conclusion on Sept. 17 of Phase One of the NSSP plan, after India agreed to implement "measures to address proliferation concerns and ensure compliance with U.S. export controls." The latest development was portrayed in the Indian media as an important breakthrough that supposedly lifts some decades-old export restrictions on equipment for India's commercial space and nuclear programs. What is the reality?

There is little doubt that U.S.-Indian relations have been positively transformed in recent years, especially as an increasingly confident India has pursued its self-interest by opening up trade in goods and services and by strengthening its defense. A subtle but discernible shift in India's strategic posture has fostered close military-to-military cooperation between the two countries and encouraged the United States to consent to Israel's sale of the Phalcon airborne early warning system to India. The new direction and closeness in U.S.-Indian ties have in turn helped raise India's international profile.