February 25th 2009
Obama Angers India Again
Even if you weren’t dozing off when the prez wound down his speech last night, you might still have missed his one and only reference to the war against jihadists who hope to destroy us:
And with our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism. Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens half a world away.
Yes, Virginia, George W. Bush is no longer president.
Presumably among those friends and allies whose help is needed to keep al-Qaeda from plotting against us – not to mention attacking us! – would be the Indian government. After all, they’re right next door to jihadistan, have being fighting the jihadists for 800 years or so, and recently suffered through the Mumbai attack, which was planned in Pakistan.
Well, it turns out Obama’s insane pledge to “restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas” has pinched a nasty nerve in India, according to the Times of India:
NEW DELHI: Indian companies received a bad news from US President Barack Obama on Wednesday, when, in his first address to the Congress, he said that there will be no tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs.
This move, if pushed into legislation, will hurt India’s BPO sector and if Obama lifts tax breaks, he will make it unattractive for US companies to outsource jobs to India.
Industry bodies in India have said that the future poses big challenges for Indian IT companies after Obama’s latest comment.
Rajeev Chandrashekar, MP and President, FICCI said, “This poses yet another challenge for Indian IT and software companies that are growing in the US. In a way this is a natural exception of the US government trying to create a much more protectionist environment. This will pose a real challenge to Indian companies.”
Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICC said that this is a matter of grave concern not only for India but for the US also.
Mitra went on to give Obama a bit of schooling in the subtleties of global trade, since the president appears to hear only to the haranguing of labor unions:
“Perhaps what is wrong in this is, he may not have had the opportunity to read the literature of his own US Chamber of Commerce. When he does and if he does, he will know that he is really punishing American companies, not Indian companies only. Our sense is that this is something that has been in the offing. My feeling is that they are cutting their own nose to spite the phase.”
This is the second time in one month Obama has angered India, which we really need to court as a stronger ally; previously he stuck his nose into the sensitive Kashmir issue, resulting in a miffed reaction:
If Obama’s Kashmir thesis becomes the policy, many negative consequences might ensue. For one, an American diplomatic intervention in Kashmir will make it impossible for India to pursue the current serious back channel negotiations with Pakistan on Kashmir, the first since 1962-63…. Third party involvement will rapidly shrink the domestic political space for India on Kashmir negotiations.
For another, the prospect that the U S might offer incentives on Kashmir is bound to encourage the Pakistan Army to harden its stance against the current peace process with India.
Finally, the sense that an Obama Administration will put Jammu & Kashmir on the front burner would give a fresh boost to militancy in Kashmir and complicate the current sensitive electoral process there. Kashmiri separatist lobbies in Washington have already embraced Obama’s remarks. (Express India)
This is why it’s good to have a president who has done more than run for offices and hold them for the shortest time possible. It’s also why it’s good to have a president who understands the war on terror. Unfortunately, we have to live with the president America elected.
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