Most Indians like what the US president thinks: India can become a great power
George W. Bush, who arrived in the capital last night, wouldn’t have encountered those protesting against his visit. Even if he did, Bush, who sees protestors every day outside White House, should be delighted at the vigorous freedom of expression practised in the world’s largest democracy. More so because the major message from vox populi seems a welcome, not a protest: opinion polls in India have consistently shown strong popular support to both the US and the president in the last few years. Bush’s personal standing in this country seems higher than in many other countries, including perhaps, at this point, in his own!
That 71 per cent in India have a favourable view of the US and 54 per cent support Bush’s handling of world affairs, as reported by the latest Pew poll, underlines globalising India’s new attitudes. The post-colonial chip is no longer an issue to a confident new generation of Indians which has grown up in the era of economic reforms. Unlike the inward-looking India of the ’60s and ’70s that blamed the US and the West for its own ills, the new India is self-assured about its ability to deal with the West as well as the rest. We hope some of this confidence rubs off on the DAE, which has complicated the last minute negotiations on the nuclear separation plan by reflecting all the fears of the past. The positive Indian sentiment towards Bush also instinctively captures the changing strategic dynamics now shaping a new Indo-US partnership. For all the demonisation of Bush, it is his personal beliefs that have forced a paradigm shift in America’s approach to India.
No previous American president has been more favourable to India than Bush on the three big political issues that matter to Delhi — terrorism, J&K and nuclear cooperation. No wonder New Delhi has done more political business with Washington in the five years of the Bush administration than in the previous 50. While liberals in America continue to denounce the nuclear deal, and worry about Indian threat to US jobs, Bush has stood by three basic convictions — a prosperous India would also let America maintain economic growth, a rising India will stabilise global balance of power, and Indian democracy is part of the long-term antidote to terrorism. All three are music to India, which aspires to become a great power. While the world would have eventually accommodated a rising India’s aspirations, Bush has chosen, through his own personal interest, to accelerate India’s emergence. No wonder, then, mainstream India is ready to say “howdy”.
