Great Expectations

Great Expectations
Barack Obama's visit to India comes during the subcontinent’s festival of light but nothing in his official business looks likely to set the sky alight. His defeat in the mid term election has also robbed off some of his charm. In fact even before he steps foot in the capital the visit has been proclaimed it as a damp squib by the pollitical pundits. Obama is expected to live up to the expectations set by his predecessor George Bush under whom the relations between India and America improved significantly. But to the dismay of many in both countries the budding friendship between Obama and Manmohan Singh has failed to kick on.
If the Indians are expecting a grand Diwali gift from him then we may be in for a dissappointment. He may not bring good news for India, which is currently focused on an intense debate on President Obama’s policy on outsourcing (negative for India), the non-sharing of critical intelligence information which could have avoided the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists, and the expected non-endorsement of India for the permanent, veto-wielding membership of the UN Security Council. It appears to many in the country that President Obama is coming to India to seek an order of approximately USD 10B for US fighter planes, which could create around 50,000 jobs in the U.S. and continuous business over the next decade from India. The Indian businessmen’s major concerns of the huge hike in H-1B visa fees which the US Congress recently introduced to raise $600 million for securing the US-Mexican border is unlikely to be addressed. This will cost the IT firms immensly. Obama’s defeat in the House of Representative has ensured that he does not publicly support or promises anything to the Indian IT industry.
Obama is also expected to keep Pakistan happy. Circumstances in the subcontinent and back at home do not allow Mr Obama to come up with an aggressive statement gainst his strategic partner on the war on terror. It seems that the opportunity to seal a fantastic relationship with the world’s largest democracy is going to be wasted away due to difficult circumstances in US and the subcontinent.