Against this are the unambiguous advantages of pleasing a major new ally and developing a pattern of bilateral military cooperation in supply, training, and operations that has yet to evolve. At a time when US nuclear-reactor purchases – made possible by the historic deal negotiated by the Bush administration – have been held up by US insistence on exemptions from supplier liability in the event of an accident, some regard India’s spurning of US aircraft as a gratuitous rejection of an opportunity to demonstrate that friendship with India helps America, too.