James C. Bennet over at Albion’s Seedlings writes that “Given current realities, India’s relationship with the Anglosphere will be one of the defining factors of the 21st century.” No offense to Mr. Bennet or his excellently written entry, but “DUH!”
Bush’s trip to India and many of his comments, the comments of the media, and the comments of the non-technology blogosphere are full of wonder and hope concerning the US and India’s relation. The problem is that they are all about 3 years too late. Anyone involved in the technology profession has been dealing with India or at least Indians for some time now. If you work in technology, chances are you’ve already talked to a tech support specialist in India, worked as part of a project that is largely being developed in India, or at the very least probably had at least one Indian immigrant on your team.
India is a good partner. I can say that with a great deal of confidence because India has something that many countries in its neck of the woods do not. India has freedoms, India gives its people a voice, India is a democracy. Is it perfect? No, of course not! Then again, what system is? When the British left India to self rule, they didn’t fall in on themselves but rather became quite self sufficient. We still have some trade imbalances to discuss, but for the most part I think they’re one of the best global partners we could hope for.
The influence of India on the US has been felt for some time now, and not just in the technology field. Let’s face it though, politicians are often late to the party, even in the Executive Branch. It’s funny to be defending off-shoring at a time when so many companies are thinking of scaling back their operations or doing away with it altogether. The off-shoring trend is dying, which will hopefully be replaced with a sane off-shoring practice. It will not go away entirely, and it shouldn’t go away.
I’m not approaching India with rose-colored glasses. There are challenges and hurdles that must be overcome. There are disadvantages to doing business with them. I am not blind to any of that. However, they’ve been working in this country before I started my IT career in 1999. I somehow doubt they’d be going anywhere even if Bush hadn’t made his big to-do in India.