Trump’s 100 days: No big deal for India

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s US presidency started with trepidation for India as for many other countries because of his protectionist pronouncements and his lack of coherence which betrayed inexperience. But overall this period has been a mixed bag. The one single thing that has attracted most focussed attention has been his rejig on H1-B visas. Before he took office, in reference to India, China and Japan, among others he had said: You can’t allow policies that allow business to be ripped out of the United States like candy from a baby,” a remark that reflected a protectionist streak. But the compulsions of politics have prompted him not to go whole hog. An executive order issued recently tightened the screw on employers "who have a high ratio of H-1B workers as compared to US workers, as defined by statute". It will apparently help US companies recruit "highly-skilled foreign nationals," only when there is a "shortage of qualified workers in the country." The move has stunned the IT sector in the US, one of the largest industries to employ Indian workers on the H1-B visa.

In one of his campaign speeches, Trump had branded Pakistan the "most dangerous country in the world” adding that he thought that the only country that could keep Islamabad in check was India. But while this had gladdened Indian hearts, Trump has done nothing to reassure India that he would get Pakistan’s terror training camps dismantled or address India’s concerns over the way the terror kingpins are thriving in Pakistan. The farthest he went recently was to tell Pakistan that it will have to be "less selective than it has been in past" in its dealing with terrorists. One silver lining is that Trump has praised Prime Minister Modi and said that he is looking forward to a purposeful meeting with him. A great deal hinges on the kind of equation they strike up but right now Indo-US relations are hemmed in by absence of high-level contact and the looming Indian fears on the visa issue. While there is a surge in racial crimes against ethnic Indians in the US, it can only be nominally attributed to the effect of Trump’s protectionist stance. All in all, 100 days is not enough time to judge a complex relationship but there is little tangible forward movement in Indo-US ties.