[Global Times Report Reporter Bai Yunyi] Editor's Note: During this US election, there was a "coincidence" that was particularly eye-catching: Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, had an Indian background, and the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate, James Vance, is from an Indian immigrant family. Not only that, in the Republican presidential primary election, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, who performed well, were both of Indian descent. More and more Indians are taking the "front desk" of American politics. What are the phenomena worthy of attention behind it, and what impact will it have on the domestic and foreign policies and political landscape of the United States?
The number of Indians who serve as members of parliament is the largest of all Asians
"Vance became Trump's running mate, marking the first time that Usha Vance-an Indian-American and devout Hindu-had the opportunity to become the vice president's spouse.This also establishes a striking reality: Depending on the current situation, the United States will either have an Indian female president or a second lady of Indian origin."The New York Times recently wrote in a report," This is the latest milestone in the rise of Indian Americans as a political force in the past 10 years."
At the same time, more and more Indians are becoming senior civil servants and legislators in the United States. According to AAPI Data, an organization that focuses on Asian-American data, as of July this year, there were five Indians in the US Congress, in addition to 40 Indian-Americans serving as state legislators, which is the largest number of any Asian-American group in the United States. According to a report released two months ago by the Indian diaspora organization "Indiaspora", in 2023, more than 150 senior federal government positions in the United States were held by Indians, accounting for about 4.4% of the total number of senior federal government positions. In 2013, the number was only more than 60, accounting for only 1.7%.
Behind the outstanding performance of Indians in American politics is the rapid growth of this group in the United States in recent years. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) reported that according to the 2020 U.S. census report, the number of people who consider themselves "purely Indian" has exceeded the number of people who consider themselves "purely Chinese". The Hindu reported that in 2023, the number of Indians in the United States has exceeded 5 million.
The New York Times believes that the growth of the Indian group is linked to the background of the time when the group immigrated to the United States, which also made the Indian the richest and most educated Asian group in the United States.In 1965, the United States enacted a new immigration law to lift restrictions on immigration from Asia, Africa and other regions, and a large number of Indians began to immigrate to the United States. In recent years, the booming technology industry in the United States has created a large number of companies that have created a demand for software engineers and computer programmers, which in turn has attracted many Indians with higher education backgrounds, and has increased the Indian population in the United States. Today, 60% of Indian Americans immigrated to the United States after 2000.
"In some ways, Indians are now the most economically successful ethnic group in the United States, unlike a century ago, when they were sparse, poor, and at the bottom of American society." According to an analysis in the February issue of the American magazine The Nation, Indian-Americans are now successful in many fields, such as Microsoft CEO Nadella, Google CEO Pichai, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Ramakrishnan (Indian-British structural biologist with American nationality - editor's note), Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jupa Rahili, and famous singer Nora Jones, all of whom are of Indian descent.
Economic success also laid the foundation for Indians to enter politics.The Indian Business Standards newspaper in August, citing the latest report released by "Indiaspora", said:In recent years, Indians have contributed US$300 billion in tax revenue to U.S. federal finances every year.Of the 648 unicorn startups in the United States, about 72 are led by founders of Indian origin, accounting for 11% of the unicorn companies in the United States. These companies employ more than 55,000 people in the United States. In addition, the Indian-descended expatriate also owns about 60% of hotels in the United States, which brings in $700 billion in hospitality industry revenue and creates 4 million jobs.
Neera Tanton, director of the Council on Domestic Policy, said at an event last September that Indian-Americans had done well in the US, especially under Mr. Biden. "When I first came to Washington, there were only a handful of Indian-Americans in the Clinton administration," she said. "Today, there are Indians in almost every government department. When we talk about artificial intelligence, for example, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is run by Indian-American Alati Prabaka."
"Political dissent among Indians is related to their immigration history"
“In all indicators related to political and civil participation, Indian-Americans are at the forefront of the Asian population,” the New York Times said, adding that experts generally believe that this is because India is an English-language country and has a “strong democratic tradition.”
“Indo-Americans are an awakening group who are aware of their power in the electoral field,” said Patel, executive director of the non-profit organization “Influence of Indo-Americans,” according to NBC.Harris’ presence on the national stage as a vice president also prompted more Indians to launch their own campaign.“I think this inspired a lot of South Asian volunteers and activists, who had been involved (in politics) before, but never thought they would vote.”
Patel also added that winning a large number of Indian votes in the general election could have a significant impact on a candidate’s victory.In Arizona, for example, there are more Indian Americans than Biden got more votes than Trump got in 2020, highlighting the importance of Indian community votes.
According to a report published in July by the Seattle Times, Indians are one of the fastest-growing voters in the United States, with more than 2.1 million Indian adults eligible to vote and 23.5 million new Indians entering the United States over the past four years. In the 2020 general election, the Indian voter vote rate was 71%, the highest among Asian Americans, equal to the non-Hispanic white voter rate (71%), which is also the highest group by ethnic statistics in 2020.
NBC reports that Indian voters, like many other Asians, are most concerned with inflation, immigration policy, climate change and other topics, reflecting common South Asian values.”Patel said, “H, American media Spectrum News reports that while there are indeed some Indians who support, finance and participate in activities related to Indian politics, for most Indian Americans domestic affairs are even more important.”Singer, a scholar at the University of America’s College of International Services, said that the political stance of Indian Americans is influenced by birth freedom, anti-immigration policy, economic recession, hate crime and other issues that ultimately determine their vote, because this is their future,” she explained.
According to the New York Times, since 2008, Indians have had the highest voting rate in the U.S. presidential election among Asian groups, and they have also been the Democratic party’s reliable source of voting, as most Indians consider Democrats to be more inclusive of different beliefs and races, and more supporting social security policies that they value. Over the years, Democrats have also invested a lot of resources in trying to attract Asian American voters.
However, many media analysts believe that Indian-Americans are increasingly diversified and even divided in terms of faith, economic background and educational level, as well as their attitude toward Hindu nationalism promoted by Indian Prime Minister Modi.
The New York Times, taking the political orientation of Usha Wans’ family as an example, wrote that Usha Wans’ parents didn’t often express political views, but voter registration records showed that they were supporters of the Democratic Party. In 2017, her mother also signed an open letter with 2,300 Californian professors urging Trump not to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. While Usha Wans himself was politically somewhat mysterious, although her husband was a Republican vice president candidate, an online database that collected voter registration records showed that Usha Wans had been registered as a Democratic voter until 2014.
According to the analysis of the article published in National magazine, the internal political differences of Indian-Americans are related to their immigration history.The first Indian immigrants to benefit from America's open immigration policies during the Cold War were mostly elites in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. They usually had high-caste backgrounds, received good higher education, integrated into the American middle class, tended to have liberal leanings, and "valued individual success over collective struggle." However, as the Indian community in the United States has grown, the backgrounds of new Indian immigrants have become more complex, including lower castes, different religious beliefs and different political leanings."In particular, some Indians who grew up in a Hindu nationalist context are more sympathetic to right-wing views, emphasizing the superiority of Hinduism and opposing multiculturalism."
"Ramaswamy represents a new characteristic of right-wing Indian Americans." "The Nation" magazine analyzed that they are on the side of white people and are working hard to pull the Indian community in this direction. Prashad, a left-wing Indian researcher, believes that in the 1960s, a neo-conservative trend of thought emerged among American Jews, which was reflected in both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Now, a similar thing is happening among Indians.
Faced with the uncertainty of the US election, India is "the most calm"
What does the rise of Indians in American politics mean for U.S. -Indian relations? Some media analysts believe that although Indian Americans can play an important role in advocating the development of U.S. -Indian people-to-people relations and state-to-state relations, in general, the expansion of Indian Americans 'voice in American politics is not related to U.S. -Indian relations. Very direct.
In July, the Washington Post in an article entitled “Why India’s passion for Harris became cold” that when Harris joined the Democratic presidential campaign in 2020, the Indian media was excited to report on her Indian ancestry, visiting Harris’ grandfather’s village and telling her about Harris’s love for a traditional cake in India."Harris is not moving any mountains in U.S.-India relations."The report quoted an analyst as saying.
Wang Feng, a researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Research at Qingdao University and an expert on Indian issues, said in an interview with the Global Times reporter:Most of the Indians active in American politics are second-and third-generation immigrants. Although they have some feelings for their ancestral home country India, their identity is generally American, and naturally American interests come first. Secondly, having an affinity for India does not necessarily mean having a favorable opinion of the Modi government.During the Biden administration, although U.S. -India relations continued to develop in the general direction, the Democratic government has always been critical of the Modi administration on issues such as religion and human rights of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Chin told reporters that Indian-Americans are religiously diverse, including Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. Ms. Haley, a Republican from a Sikh family, for example, has been critical of Mr. Modi's Hindu nationalism. Add to that the fact that minorities in the United States often need to appear more "mainstream" than whites to emphasize their loyalty to the United States, and therefore sometimes take a harsher attitude towards their ancestral country.
However, Qian Feng believes that the development of US-India relations is the general trend and the consensus of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. India is an important part of Washington's "Indo-Pacific strategy". "Therefore, compared with Japan, South Korea and Europe's concerns about the uncertainty of the US election, India's attitude is the most calm now."He believes that "no matter which party comes to power, no matter how many Indians are in the US government, the general trend of US-India relations moving forward is certain and determined by the international environment."
"Overall, India finds itself at a geopolitical 'sweet spot' when tensions between China and the United States intensify and the United States is looking for friends in Asia." The Washington Post quoted Hash Wadhan Slingra, India's former ambassador to Washington, as saying that no matter who wins the election in November, India's position is solid. "For India, it is a win-win situation no matter what."