-Dr. Rahul Kumar, Diplomacy & Security Expert-
(Asian Independent)- The US has been trying to build a strong pressure on the Modi Government since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Modi government has shown guts to the US by pursuing independent foreign policy. There are several important issues such as racial discrimination and caste discrimination which are hampering the social and economic progress of Indian- Americans in the United States of America. As the world knows that there was an abundant bonhomie between Indian Prime Narendra Modi and former US President Donald Trump. Both leaders were confident to take their friendship to the next level and strengthen bilateral ties without ifs and buts. The time changed when President Joe Biden took over the reins of the US government. The relationship between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden is based purely on commercial ties. When Kamala Harris took over as a Vice- President of the US, there was high enthusiasm among the Indian Diaspora living in the United States of America but Vice- President Kamala Harris disappointed most of the Indians as their social and economic conditions, particularly of the Indian- American labor class deteriorated further.
It is alleged that the racial discrimination is as high as it was in the 19th century. According to a survey conducted by Indian- American Attitudes survey (IAAS) – a collaboration between the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins – SAIA & the University of Pennsylvania, Indian –American regularly encounter discrimination , one in two Indian American reports discrimination based on skin color identified as the most common form of bias. Workplace discrimination harms Sikhs in the public and private sectors including transportation, entertainment, health sector, military and law enforcement. Similarly, Dalits settled in the United States of America are facing caste discrimination at the hands of Hindus. Not only this, but also the Hindu groups are trying to build up a strong lobby against the Dalits in the United States of America. In 2020, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against U.S.-based technology company Cisco Systems after an employee from one of India’s historically marginalized caste communities (“Dalits”) alleged that some of his upper caste Indian American colleagues discriminated against him on the basis of his caste identity ( ref. https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Vaishnav_etal_IAASpt3_Final.pdf). The policy of Joe Biden establishment towards Dalits in the United State of America is a policy of appeasement. In this regard, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team in the External Affairs Ministry including Dr S.JaiShankar did not take up such important issues with US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Independent foreign policy has its own political limitations. The Indian Government has to assess pros and cons as there is no use of showing aggressive attitude towards the establishment of the United States of America while given the size of the Indian Diaspora. It is advisable that the Modi government should use its energy and time to build a powerful image of the country in the world. The Modi government also needs to see that the Hindu groups in the USA or in any country of the world should not be allowed to smear the image of the country in any part of the world. This is more important than the economic interests of the country.
