Is Obama good for India?
November 7, 2008 posted by indiatime |
There’s a lot of discussion going on about whether the American president-elect will be better for India than the current American president. I don’t think there is anything fundamentally wrong about asking that question. But I just think we have issues and questions that have more to do with ourselves and less to do with Obama or Bush or Mccain or anyone else. Still, here are a few random issues, in no particular order, just begin the discussion.
1. Is Obama good for Outsourcing?
There have been some reports on Obama opposing outsourcing jobs out of his country. I am surprised that people find this surprising. What would a presidential candidate say in the middle of his campaign? That he supports sending jobs out to other countries? That too, in the midst of an economy in crisis and the US unemployment numbers on the rise?
The outsourcing boom has been good for India and it has been this way for last almost a decade. It is no coincidence that the influx of wealth into India closely matches the period of increasing outsourcing from US to India. Anyone who thinks we did it all on our own is either a fool or an idiot. We should have known from day one that sooner or later, that one of these days, the outsourcing boom will diminish if not end. And if we haven’t used the influx of wealth properly to build infrastructure and to invest in research and development and to fuel innovation, then we have wasted the biggest opportunity thrown our way by the Gods of capitalism.
So whoever the new American president-elect, the Americans chose him to act in their best interest, not in ours. If we can’t US-president-proof our country, then it’s us who aren’t managing our interests very well.
2. Is Obama good for war on terror?
Once again, whoever the American president, he or she is acting with the American interest at heart. If Obama decides to bomb the heck out of Pakistan, it will not be because...