Whether Trump wins or Biden, New Delhi will have a supporter in the White House, no matter who occupies it
The Democratic US presidential nominee, Joe Biden, tweeted recently, “I have the great honour to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” It was indeed a historic moment for both Kamala and the US.
The Los Angeles Times describes Kamala as: “Historic breakthroughs have been a constant in Harris’ 17 years in politics. She was the first Black woman to hold every office she has won — San Francisco District Attorney and State Attorney General.”
In fact, she was also the first Black senator from California. If elected, it will be another coup for her to become the first woman and first Black Vice- President. Just two women, Democrat Geraldine Ferraro (1984) and Republican Sarah Palin (2004) were nominated as running mates earlier but both lost.
Interestingly, Biden also has an Indian connection. He revealed it during his 2013 visit to Mumbai. “It turns out,” Biden said, “my great, great, great, great, great grandfather,” by the name of George Biden, was a Captain in the East India Trading Company. After retirement, George Biden decided to settle down in India and married an Indian woman.” Five Bidens are now living in Mumbai.
Kamala’s story is the fascinating story of a changing, inclusive American democracy. She was the child of two immigrants — an Indian scholar and a Jamaican academic. Her mother Shyamala brought up her two daughters as a single parent living in a Black neighbourhood. Though the Indian-Americans are thrilled with her nomination, speaking to The Washington Post last year, Kamala simply defined herself as American and she generally did not struggle with issues surrounding her identity. Interestingly, other famous Indian-origin Americans like former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Trump’s UN envoy Nikki Haley did not make much of their Indian origin either. Kamala, too, has highlighted more of her Black heritage. “Harris grew up embracing her Indian culture, but living a proudly African-American life,” The Washington Post described her last year. Though Kamala talks of her mother Shyamala’s influence and claims, “My mother was very proud of her Indian heritage and taught us, me and my sister Maya, to share in the pride about our culture,” she rarely talks about her Jamaican father Donald Harris, a Professor Emeritus in Stanford University.
It is understandable why she is focussing more on her African heritage as Asian-Americans only account for five per cent of the electorate, compared to 13 per cent Black voters. In the US, the racial division is on Black and White politics. Asian-Americans have only recently emerged in the last two decades and grown by 139 per cent, making it the fastest-growing demographic of voters, as compared to the White electorate which grew by seven per cent in the same period. It would be foolish to expect that Kamala will reciprocate India’s enthusiasm, though she would like to woo the influential Indian-American voters. Her first preference would be to satisfy the domestic constituency and there it is White versus Black.
As a Senator, she, like many other Democrats, was critical of the Kashmir issue. “We have to remind the Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world,” she said. Kamala ticked off Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last December, who had cancelled an interaction with the House Affairs Committee, after members refused to exclude Jayapal, a critic of India’s policies on Kashmir, from the meeting.
While the Indian Government may expect a Biden-Harris administration to be stricter on human rights issues, they are also likely to take a more liberal stance on immigration, China and border issues as declared by Biden last week. With the Indo-US ties reaching a high level of bipartisan support in the Congress, India is likely to get support on key issues.
With Kamala by his side, Biden had declared recently that if elected, his administration would stand with India in confronting the border threats. He also called for strengthening the “bond” between the two countries and that he would work on big global challenges like climate change and global health security. He vowed to reform the H-1B visa system and assured continued partnership between India and Delhi. He referred to his support to India after the Pokhran blast in 1998 and the Indo-US Nuclear Bill in 2008. In her statement standing by Biden’s side, Kamala talked of Mahatma Gandhi and pluralism and referred to her Chennai connection. All these give some hope to New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already shown his slant to Trump and the US President claims Modi as his “good friend.” New Delhi will have a supporter in the White House whoever occupies it. With Biden declaring that he will be a one-term President, the doors are open for Kamala to become the Democratic nominee for the presidential polls in 2024. Who knows what happens then?
(The writer is a senior journalist)
