There are many reasons the president hasn’t been able to move the needle substantially with the Indian-American community. First and foremost is the former vice-president’s long track record as a supporter of India, dating back to his Senate days. Throughout the 232-year history of the United States (US) presidential elections, India had rarely been a campaign issue. The current election, pitting President Donald Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden, is changing that. With the … [Read more...]
Covid-19: From the US, Lessons on What Not to Do.
Driven by politics rather than science, Donald Trump took a set of reckless decisions. Here are 10 lessons The United States (US), which has the most expensive health care infrastructure in the world, remains, by far, the country most affected by the coronavirus pandemic with more than 3.5 million cases and around 140,000 fatalities as of July 15. Sadly, more than six months after the onset of the pandemic, the US appears to be far from flattening the infections curve. These … [Read more...]
The precarious status of H-1B visa holders in the US
Some sort of restrictions could be imposed even within weeks. In the proclamation, Trump directed the secretaries of labour and homeland security to review various visa programmes and recommend appropriate measures United States (US) President Donald Trump recently signed a new presidential proclamation that imposed a 60-day ban on issuing Green Cards to certain immigrants. India’s information technology (IT) industry and hundreds of thousands of H-1B visa holders in the … [Read more...]
The US presidential election match-up is welcome news for India
It can do business with both Trump and Biden. But the latter will be a more friendly interlocutor, steady partner Earlier this month, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden’s opponent to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States (US), announced that he was suspending his campaign. This means that Biden will be the Democratic candidate for President. Biden has since got support from former president Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren, herself a former presidential … [Read more...]
What the US, India and the world can learn from King and Gandhi
In January, 2020, India, the US, and the world, need more peace, love and healing. We need a renewal and a reawakening of our better angels. Those of us who understand this must hear the voices of King and Gandhi and step forward to “walk in the light” and to “be the change”. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, and Mahatma Gandhi died on January 30, 1948. However, there is a much more indelible connection between these two foremost practitioners of non-violence … [Read more...]
Why India should close a trade deal with the US
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States (US) in September, in which President Donald Trump made a cameo appearance at the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston, the two leaders were expected to announce a trade deal. But, the two sides could not agree on the contours of such a deal before that landmark trip ended. Media accounts suggested that, over subsequent weeks, New Delhi and Washington appeared to be near a trade deal several times. Nonetheless, as 2019 draws … [Read more...]
Why the US-China trade war has not helped India | Analysis
The long-standing trade disputes between the United States (US) and China turned into a full-blown war last year, with each country slapping tit-for-tat tariffs on goods imported from the other. Predictably, economic hostilities between the world’s two largest economies rattled global markets. However, a few countries in China’s neighbourhood saw opportunities in the trade war between the two giants, with India being one of them. Several economists and analysts predicted that India … [Read more...]
Analysis| PM Narendra Modi in the US: What are the stakes?
He will seek new economic alliances and reassure stakeholders that the slowdown in India is temporary. Later this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States (US) to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the trip, Modi will also visit Houston to engage the Indian diaspora and boost India’s economic ties with the US. The significance of the Houston visit has been heightened by the fact the White House has announced that US President Donald … [Read more...]
India and the US must approach the bilateral ties cautiously
Both sides must now look past Trump’s unfortunate statement and focus on addressing contentious issues. The India-United States (US) relations were thrown off course last week when President Donald Trump offered to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad on Kashmir. Much to the bewilderment of Indian officials and South Asia watchers in Washington, the president said, at a joint White House press conference with the visiting Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, that Prime Minister Narendra … [Read more...]
Enfranchise NRI Voters to Enhance India’s Democracy
There is a simple and straightforward solution to solve this problem. It is to reform the election law and to let the NRI’s vote from where they are. They could cast either postal votes or vote online. By May 19, close to 600 million Indians will have cast their ballots in what will be the largest electoral process in human history. More than two-thirds of the 900 million eligible voters, living across the length and breadth of the country, are expected to vote in this election. The … [Read more...]