US Election: What if India could vote?
NEW DELHI, India — As part of GlobalPost's project to interview 100 people in 20 locations around the world about the 2012 US election, we asked Indians:
Who do you want to win the 2012 US election?
Will the election affect your country?
How has your view of the US changed since President Obama took office?
What should the next US president do?
- Name: Anshuman Gupta
- Country: India
- Occupation: Management consultant
- Age: 36
- I would vote for: Obama
The election's impact: "I'm sure it will. Economically, for instance, given the way things are in the US with employment and so on, if someone like Barack Obama comes in I would think his priority would be to make sure people in the US have jobs. So that could potentially impact all the offshoring stuff that's going on. That's on the negative side. But overall, in general, the US and India have pretty good relations, and I don't think that will change dramatically, given the strategic importance of India and the basic values of the two countries being the same."
My view: "It has improved. I think for me personally it has been that the previous administration the context of the world was very different with all the wars going on. I think it was more of a belligerent outlook of the US on center stage, which for me personally I don't think that's the way a country in such a leadership position to function. For whatever reason, that seems to have gone on the background now. And I think there are more important things to do. Things are tough with the economy and so on, but those are things where we can still work together in a more peaceful and more collaborative fashion."
Top priority: "The most important thing is working on the economic situation, because everything stems from that. Political stability assumes economic stability, within a country or globally. From my perspective working on the economic angle and the employment angle, both locally as well as overall from an international perspective, given the way things are in Europe. Getting people aligned on that and solving those problems. Doing whatever it takes to get that fixed."
- Name: Jerry Altaf
- Country: India
- Occupation: Electronics engineer/student
- Age: 22
- I would vote for: Obama
My vote: "I would vote for Obama. I think he's better than [Bush] in many aspects. He has not started any wars. He has taken some measures to see that there's something better happening, and especially on the war front the US has spent a considerable amount on defense and we can see what is happening to the economy. So Obama has taken better steps compared with the Bush government."
The election's impact: "The US election will definitely affect India. Each of the US presidents has maintained a different kind of relationship with India, so the US being one of the major strengths in the world the attitude of both parties will be different toward a country like India. I'm not sure exactly how they are going to affect us. But especailly the US being a major consumer of India's outsourcing, I don't know what the attitude is going to be."
Top priority: "The most important thing I feel is that the US should be looking into what's happening inside their own country instead of looking outside and getting into other countries' affairs. They should be trying to reduce their poverty level, unemployment, probably trying to reduce their spend on the defense sector and move it to other sectors."
- Name: Deepak Sharma
- Country: India
- Occupation: Digital
- Age: 26
- I would vote for: Romney
The election's impact: "Frankly I'm telling you, I know economics as well. Economics is my subject. Definitely it will affect. If Obama will win, it will matter. If someone else wins, it will also matter. How it affects? What the strategy they made, will affect the Indian economy. Now the Indian economy is directly related to the global economy. Now India has become a hub, a center of the whole economy, just like the US. See, as a president of US, whatever Obama said about outsourcing, I personally feel it's fine. It's really right. When he said the US has to stop outsourcing, it's right. If we talk about US growth, there's lots of unemployment in the US. Everyone requires employment, either me or either you. I am Indian, you are US. Everyone requires employment for surviving on this earth."
Top priority: "The next president … The most important thing, either it's Obama or it's Romali … Romali? He's Indian guy, na? Romney? He's Indian? I mean, either it's Obama or its someone else, I expect whatever he do, it's not for the welfare of the US, it's not for the welfare of India, it's not for the welfare of anyone, if he will think about the global economy. The US is number one in the world and whatever the president, whatever strategy, whatever policy he will make, it affects the whole world. He should not take decisions wholly for the benefit of the US people or US nation. It's about all."
- Name: Surendra Verma
- Country: India
- Occupation: Small business owner in machinery manufacturing and sales
- Age: 72
- I would vote for: Romney
Top priority: "I don't know what the burning problems are in the US now. I was last in the US three or four years ago. But I think the bigger problem is jobs. Unemployment in America is increasing."
- Name: Plu Soin
- Country: India
- Occupation: Stay-at-home mom
- Age: 41
- I would vote for: Obama
My view: “I don’t have a good opinion of the US' way of governing. Our government tried to curb [drug trafficking] and ended with this war, which has no meaning because [Americans] are still consuming drugs. They don’t really care about the Latin American people. But they should do more for us. Many of their labor hands are Latinos who've been breaking into other levels of the economy.”
Top priority: “The US has to move in an international direction because right now they are always thinking about national issues. Because of all the wars, they have lost part of their international strategy. The economies around the world are moving and changing, and they are not participating as they should be.”
GlobalPost series: See what the world thinks about election 2012