Despite securing majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives for his Democratic Party, what the President- elect must not ignore is that an estimated 47 per cent of the electorate have not endorsed his views on national and international issues.

But India should be happy to welcome him at the Oval office in Washington DC where he will take over as the 44th President of the United States of America on January 20 next year since he has vowed that his new dispensation will endeavour to strengthen relations with the Government and the people of India. And for obvious reasons, 83 per cent of the Indian-American population in the US has voted in his favour.

India cannot ignore the political and economic developments in the US since both countries have growing economic ties. It is therefore heartening that with the worldwide economic slowdown and the US facing recession, the Indian corporate sector has hailed Obama’s historic win in the race to the White House with the hope that it will further strengthen America’s relations with India. Bilateral and economic relationships between the two countries will improve and intensify as rightly stated by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).   

India has vast English knowing human resources and the western world including the United States are dependent on it. Due to growing unemployment among the Americans, there is demand from some sections of the society there to abolish or restrict HI-B VISA Programme. The National Association of Software and Service Companies better known as NASSCOM, representative body of the Indian Information Technology (IT) sector has correctly appreciated Mr. Obamas’s stance on the issue. It supports the expanding HI-B VISA Program so that the highly skilled workers can help companies lead the way to innovation and contribute to additional jobs and economic growth in the United States.

Barely one week before his historic victory in the race to the White House Mr. Obama told an Indian news agency that he was for ending abuse committed under the HI-B visa system that is utilized by highly qualified specialists to work in the United States. The US President- elect had also stated that he would see that immigrant workers are less dependent on their employers for their right to stay in the US and would hold employers accountable for abusing the system and their workers. 

In addition to outsourcing which is a major source for Indian companies to earn through foreign exchange, there are some concerns over India’s competitiveness in the global agriculture market. These concerns are expressed in the backdrop of reluctance of the United States to reduce farm subsidies to the desired levels that has kept multilateral trade talks deadlocked in WTO.  

If the US goes ahead with increasing agriculture subsidy as stated by Mr. Obama during his election campaign, such a move will give a jolt to the export of agricultural products from India and other developing countries. Now, the question is whether the young and charismatic Democrat who has captured the imagination of millions of Americans of diverse persuasions, will have the political gut to incur the wrath of the farm sector by cutting subsidy on the domestic agricultural produce to help the farmers in India and other third world countries. This seems to be unlikey. But what is the harm if he tries some other alternative? Should not India cooperate with him in brining in a new socio-economic order?

It is needless to say that India and the United States have some common problems like growing unemployment and they have to find alternative sources of energy. It is heartening therefore that the US President-elect remains committed to supporting and implementing the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement. But he should be cautious and diplomatic about taking any step regarding the Kashmir issue. The US must not intervene in it since it is a bilateral problem between India and Pakistan. The largest democracy and the richest democracy in the world must not only strengthen their democratic systems but also extend a helping hand to those who are fighting for such a mechanism and human rights in several countries.

P K Chakravarty