India and the US: What matters and what doesn't?

With the race to the White House edging to a close finish, India, understandably, is rethinking it’s relations with the country - considered one of the biggest economic and political powers in the world. Following are some questions that came up during a CNN-IBN discussion on the issues that India needs to concentrate on while thinking about its power-equation with the US.

Does outsourcing hold the key to the Indo-US relationship?

Jonathan Shainin, senior editor of The Caravan magazine commented that the outsourcing is less of a real issue, more one that politicians worldwide ‘pretend’ is one.  Speaking to CNN-IBN, he said,“Obama is painting Romney like a plutocrat and saying that he was the one who pioneered outsourcing. But that is not true.”

“Both of them are playing the economy card. But even if Obama is against outsourcing, none of them can combat outsourcing,” he added.

India - a young economy advantage?

Former diplomat G Parthasarathy said that India’s position is better than China when it comes to relations with America, as the latter is well aware of the fact that India is an emerging democracy. He said, “The Americans take the Indian democracy seriously and its good that we have a strong presence in America.”

Not just that, India is a younger country compared to China - that is an aging economy, he added.

US election - does it make a difference to South Block?

Siddharth Vardarajan, editor of The Hindu said that the election outcomes should not worry the Indian government too much. He said, “From 2010 onwards Obama shifted back to the old kind of diplomatic equations that reminded one of the Bush administration, " adding that Obama had earlier promised an other kind of diplomatic equation.