Donald Trump the outsider had the last laugh. Abused and vilified by his country’s media, scorned by its political establishment, written off by the pollsters, he rode past the magic 270 electoral seats at a confident gallop to claim the most astonishing victory in American history, replicating, indeed exceeding, the Brexit triumph in Britain. More than anything, the results, in both instances, confounded the droves of self-proclaimed pundits in the United States and their hangers-on in the Indian broadsheets whose integrity for impartial analysis or factual reliability have long been measured on delicate machines normally used to weigh gold dust.
The Hillary Clinton bandwagon had the support of Wall Street money, some $1.3billion were spent on her election campaign, compared to President-elect Trump’s comparatively modest $500 million. She stole the Democratic party nomination from the visionary and scrupulously upright Bernie Sanders, but failed in the final strait to the White House. Husband Bill’s and her Clinton Foundation were recipients of donations from various sources, none dodgier than the contribution from the ruler of Qatar, one of the principal financiers of the terrorist jihadi Islamic State.
Mrs Clinton and her minions put it about in the public space that President Putin of Russia was busy stealing the presidential election for Donald Trump, that whistle blower Wickileaks was in cahoots with the Kremlin and much else dutifully peddled by the mainstream media in Britain, France and Germany. Such untruths cut no ice with the bulk of the American electorate. McCarthyism has long been a spent force; resurrecting this dinosaur proved counter-productive and backfired spectacularly.
Hillary Clinton as US Secretary of State was the principal architect of the West’s military intervention in Libya; and the confrontation with Russia, which could have ignited a Third World War. She stood by the new Cold War initiated by Barack Obama.
There was something rotten in the state of Denmark, but it took the robust Donald Trump to demolish a malodorous structure and level it to the ground. More even than Mr Trump, people’s power was the true victor in this seemingly unequal contest.
Not everything Mr Trump said on the election trail was laudable or credible. His strength lay in breaking the mould of American politics – in challenging the shibboleths, clichés and outright falsehoods that had become holy writ in the mainstream American narrative. His cannonade concentrated of three major falsifications: he said it was American military adventures in the Middle East that, far from bringing democracy to the region had, instead, parented Islamic State. He poured scorn on the Obama administration’s subterfuge in making a distinction between ‘moderate’ jihadis worthy of American financial and military support, and jihadis who sought succor elsewhere. He expressed an interest in cooperating with Russia to defeat the common scourge of militant Islamism. Over and above this, Mr Trump well understood the pain and anguish of the white American working and middle classes who were short-changed by selfish corporate interests and reduced to ignoble penury. He promised to consign the Obama administration’s Pacific free trade deal to the dustbin. US manufacturers would be given tax incentives to invest in America rather than opt for easy pickings in poorer countries.
The Indo-US relationship under a Trump administration is likely to fulfill the promise that eluded it during the eight years of the Obama administration. During this period, India was forced to rest content with rhetorical condemnations of jihadi terrorism emanating from across the border in Pakistan, even as Washington continued to provide Islamabad with a cornucopia of financial and military aid. Such double talk is likely to end, with Donald Trump singling out Pakistan as a problem state requiring special attention in corporation with India. He has also promised to put a 45 per cent surcharge on Chinese imports as a counter to Beijing’s dumping practices.
Finally, President-elect Trump has first-hand experience of India, where his company has made substantial investments in the country’s real estate sector. Speaking at the launch of the Trump Towers in Mumbai in 2013, Mr Trump said: ‘ It has been my desire for many years to be involved in a great project in Mumbai, and it is my honour to bring the Trump lifestyles to the citizens of this truly global metropolis.’ He is on record as saying that India was an unheralded success story. His abiding respect and admiration for the Indian diaspora and their manifold achievements in the United States has been aired at numerous public events. India.
‘Ab ki baar Trump sarkar’ - in Hindi, After this the Trump government – was the slogan at a public meetings organized by Indian American supporters of a Rump presidency. Word is now flesh.
President-elect Trump, as befits his historic victory, reached out to all Americans, with an appeal to stand united and make their country great again. He has the rare opportunity to lead his country in this uplifting task.
Platform for post-Brexit Indo-British enterprise
British Prime Minister Teresa’s May recent to India in essence was an exploratory exercise, but no less significant for that, India being her first port of call outside Europe following the Brexit referendum. Her core concern was the promotion of Indo-British ties around trade and investment. Britain is the largest investor in India of all the G20 countries, India is the third-largest investor in Britain. This by any standard is a significant reality that provides scope for an ascending cycle of economic and scientific cooperation in ever widening fields.
With Brexit a ground reality, Britain is compelled to explore economic opportunities in new markets such as India, Australia, New Zealand other promising markets across continents. Under Article 50 of the EU treaty, Britain is obliged to negotiate her exit from the European Union. Until this is done and dusted, talks with India on a free trade agreement cannot begin. That said, she and Prime Minister Modi and Ministers Arun Jaitley and Liam Fox, and the large British business delegation and Indian trade and industry bodies, were presented with opportunities to take soundings on the contours of an acceptable free trade agreement of mutual benefit. The huge Indian market and its steady expansion with India’s economic growth current the fastest among large countries, coupled with Britain’s sophisticated financial services and high-tech industries and engineering skills mesh well with those of a similar category in India.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, put it well: ‘The maximum employment by the top Indian companies in the UK is concentrated in the sectors of Automotive Industrial products, Technology and telecom, Business services, Financial services, Hospitality, Engineering and manufacturing, Consumer products, and Transport and logistics.’
There are sticking points on UK visa controls for Indian professionals and related issues of immigration controls that will need sorting. But both parties recognize the vital importance of Ease of doing Business as the gateway to a closer Indo-British relationship.
Bombay’s debt to the Parsis
Bombay’s development as India’s business hub, its rise to political eminence with the founding of the Indian National Congress and present standing as a global metropolis owes a great to its myriad communities: Gujaratis, Sindhis, Marwaris, Baghdadi Jews and, for a time, the British and Europeans , but no community played such a catalytic role in the process than its small, vibrant Parsi community. The Tata name is a badge of honour across India and much of the world. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839-1904),, entrepreneur and visionary was one of the makers of modern India. Three Parsi families loomed large in Bombay’s textile industry: Petit, Wadia and Tata.
Manekji founded the Oriental Spinning and Weaving Mill, the first such composite enterprise in the city. His son Dinshaw Manekji Petit added to these a dyeing business. Knighted in 1887, he became the Sheriff of the city and a member of the Legislative Council. Sir Dinshaw helped his compatriot Nusserwanji Wadia, a clever young engineer, who had fixed one of the technical snags in a Petit mill, to set up his own textile conglomerate. Jamsetji Tata, a graduate of Bombay’s Elphinstone College, spent time in England learning the secrets of textile manufacturing, before returning to the city to set up his own mills.
Two eminent Parsis, Pherozshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji were liberal politicians in the national movement. The Parsi community has done India proud.
