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Thursday, Nov 06, 2008
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India cautiously optimistic

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday gave a cautious but enthusiastic endorsement of Barack Obama’s election as the next U.S. President. While the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent formal congratulatory messages, political parties suggested that though Mr. Obama’s win was historic, his views on Kashmir, outsourcing and China would need to be examined in some detail.

“Your extraordinary journey to the White House will inspire people not only in your country but also around the world,” Dr. Singh said.

Both Dr. Singh and President Pratibha Patil invited the President-elect to visit India as soon as possible. “We look forward to strengthening the partnership between India and the U.S. and continuing the close engagement that we have developed in recent years both in bilateral cooperation and in addressing global issues of common concern,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Vishnu Prakash.

United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi congratulated Mr. Obama on his historic election.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari described the victory as “epoch-making.” He wanted Mr. Obama’s presidency to be a “vehicle of hope” for the next four years for “the world and India too.”

The litmus test

Privately, however, Congress leaders said the litmus test for the next U.S. President’s approach to India was how he would implement his views on Kashmir, outsourcing and China.

This view was officially articulated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. “As far as India is concerned, there are three areas we would have to look at cautiously — the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty may be back on the table, his views on mediation in Jammu and Kashmir and the issue of outsourcing of jobs to which the President-elect is not favourably disposed,” said BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar.

But overall, the BJP was “happy” over the “historic win” and “the victory of democracy by a member of the American black community which never enjoyed or hoped to get power.”

Noting that there would be a regime change in India too in another four months, the BJP hoped that “both new administrations” would take bilateral relations to new heights. The BJP always favoured good relations with the U.S., Mr. Javadekar reiterated.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said the victory of Mr. Obama “is a historic milestone in the evolution of a large multiethnic and pluralist U.S. society.” He hoped Mr. Obama would succeed in introducing stability and establishing a new world order while injecting a new dynamism in Indo-U.S. relations.

Significant event: Karat

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat termed Mr. Obama’s win a “significant event in the history of U.S.” and noted that the hopes of the people of America were very high on what he would do. Mr. Karat said the world would have to wait for some time to see what political direction the new administration took. “He has promised change, let us see what he changes. The results also show how unpopular President George Bush is after eight years of his administration,” said Mr. Karat and wondered “where it leaves our Prime Minister who had expressed profound love for George Bush.”

Communist Party of India national secretary D. Raja pointed out that the rise of Mr. Obama from a deprived economic and social status to win the presidential election was a “significant event” in the U.S. history.

“He has sought votes in the name of change. We will have to wait and watch,” he said, hoping that President Bush’s belligerent policies of war and aggression would wane and the new incumbent would take up wholesome issues of global concern such as peace and development of poor countries.

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