Does the World deserve to be trumped by Trump?

The carnival tone of the US Presidential debate streaming through news networks into living rooms and televisions everywhere has the whole world watching to see if Donald Trump will actually become the next President. Trump's antics and style are certainly a departure from how Americans are known for doing business. Until now, it was impossible to imagine a Presidential candidate so undignified with his statements about race, women, immigrants and physically-challenged individuals.

Are Trump's statements and his presidential campaign just a side-show or will he be able to draw Americans to vote for him? Whatever he may do nationally does impact the world, as the state of the US economy has implications for every country. But there are important questions about how Trump's presidency would affect America's relations with India, the West Asia and China.

India's history with Republicans and Democrats

It's said that the US foreign policy doesn't change with a change of leadership. Obama's presidency had a substantial degree of continuation from his predecessor's, from the signing of the India-US civilian nuclear treaty, a policy enacted by George W Bush. Under Republican control, the US had important connections with India. The American and Indian defence forces conducted joint exercises, industries started deepening ties with their counterparts, and trade delegations started strategising on future ties.

India-US bilateral relations went through a hiccup under Barack Obama's administration. There was the H1-B visas issue and outsourcing of jobs, as Obama pledged to slow down the outflow of American jobs to places such as Bangalore, a topic that still irritates India.

As a sign of worsening relations, India signed a deal for French jets in 2012 as the lynchpin of its Air Force, instead of American ones. But diplomacy between the countries improved in 2015, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Obama to visit India soon after the two met in the White House. Even though India is currently a low priority in America's foreign policy, relations between the two are cordial.

West Asia and the US

The US is in the spotlight for its underperforming foreign policies. Obama was vehemently criticised for massive attacks on Iraq and Syria, as no strategic measures were taken to fix the situation. Questions were raised about Obama foreign policy. The US failed to bring "democratic stability" to West Asia. A wise foreign policy helps in bridging the gap ensuring economic and political growth. Extreme use of military does not ensure security; the US should organise wisely and ensure good judgement. Global leadership and sustainable foreign policy are required immediately.

West Asia, once considered a trade and cultural hub, is caught in economic and military turmoil. Obama during his 2008 campaign declared that the war in Iraq must end. In 2003, the Republicans were criticised for invading Iraq. Further, without understanding 'what happened in Iraq', the US in 2007 ordered their troops to withdraw from Iraq. Defeating Saddam Hussein led to a power vacuum in West Asia that gave birth to a bigger threat -- the Islamic State. West Asia might have been a better place if the US had not invaded Iraq.

China and the US

China's booming economy over the past three decades may have been fascinating to the world, but the United States shares no such sentiments. The two largest economies have shared a strenuous relationship in the past, partly due to the United States' slide in the global economy, and partly due to China's unquenchable thirst for supremacy. But at the same time Chinese and American economies are intertwined based on investment and lending between the two countries.

The Bush-led Republican Government continuously bashed China for violating human rights, integrating and controlling the people of the Tibetan Plateau. The Bush administration between 2005 and 2008 adopted a policy to ensure strong US presence in Asian security and political affairs to keep a watch on China's influence in the region.

Trump or not

The reality is India is too connected to the US for the relationship to be severed in the event Donald Trump gets into power. A large Indian population is thriving in the US. One of the reasons the US rekindled their relationship with India was the pressure from the Indian-American community, which had become a voice to reckon with. These Indian-Americans had also maintained deep ties with India. So whether Trump comes to power or not, India shall be able to ride the tide.

Though the world is slamming Trump, and describing him as anti-immigrant, it may have no major impact on India. In a recent media interview he praised India, "By the way, India is doing great. Nobody talks about it. I have big jobs going up in India".

He may have talked about denial of H1-B visas and jobs in favour of hiring American talent for jobs, but the ability of US businesses to thrive in the global marketplace without global employees and back offices in countries is going to be impossible. It may be only talk. But every US President in the last few decades has tried to use this as a sop for getting American votes. But this time employment is up, and American citizens may not bite as hard on this.

If we look at the last decade, India's foreign policy imperative seems more in line with the Republicans. It was the nuclear strategic partnership that the Republicans dared to sign which brought India out of nuclear apartheid and the policy towards China where India stood against dumping of goods by China on India's soil.

Obama on election had talked about a G2, which meant that the two nations, the US and China, would take centre stage. India had shown its reservations to such a suggestion. A Republican President will talk in line with the Indian perspective of containing China's influence in the global markets.

Americans will decide whether Trump gets into power. But a Republican President would mean that one more country of the world will have a conservative government, very much a trend in many countries where there have been elections recently like the UK, Denmark, Turkey, Poland and Hungary.

Rohit Gandhi is the Editor-in-Chief of ZEE's upcoming global English news channel WION.