Obama is anti-India, says Republican Shivangi

JACKSON: Citing US President Barack Obama’s stance on outsourcing of jobs to India and work visas for IT firms, a leading Indian American Republican has said that Mitt Romney, not the incumbent, is the best bet for strong and enduring Indo-US relations.
Dr Sampat Shivangi, who was one of the three Indian American delegates to the Republican National Convention and a major fund raiser in Mississippi State, said the Democrats’ India-friendly image is but just a myth.
Shivangi, the President of Indian American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE), told PTI that with Obama openly and unhesitatingly criticizing outsourcing to India, the future of ties between the two nations will be in safe hands only if a Republican occupies the White House.
He claimed that though majority of Indian-Americans do support the Democratic Party and Obama in particular, the trend was changing among second and third generation Indians.
“They no longer carry the Socialist and Nehruvian baggage from India like some of us in the age group of 60 to 70 do.
“President Obama is very critical of outsourcing jobs to India and work visa from India for IT companies are being gradually dispensed with. It’s only a myth that Democrats are India-friendly,” said Shivangi.
“President Obama’s tirade against India on outsourcing has really changed his image in majority of the Indian-Americans.
His television advertisements day in day out have taken warpath to disgrace India as the problem for joblessness in US which is untrue,” Shivangi said.
Shivangi helped raise USD 1.7 million for Republican contender Romney in Mississippi, the highest collected in the State so far topping USD 1.2 million collected for the then President George Bush, again with the help of Shivangi.
“President Obama is increasingly becoming anti-India,” says Shivangi who has attend Republican conventions as a delegate for 12 years in a row, a record of sorts especially for any Asian-American.
He pointed out that Romney had publicly declared at the Republican National Convention last month that India is the strategic ally of the US, indicating the importance Republicans attach to India.
“It was President George Bush who initiated Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal and pushed hard for it in the Congress. Democrats like Hillary Clinton hesitated till the last minute even to support the Bill in the Congress,” he said.

-PTI