The announcement of Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris has sparked off a wave of euphoria in India. Her masala dosa video has been rediscovered and shared widely across WhatsApp groups—as proof of her true Indianness. As has her love for a good idli. Her relatives from Chandigarh to Delhi have been interviewed and her long walks with her grandfather on the beach in Madras, is quoted widely. Despite the ardent adoption of Harris by Indians, the question is, will it help India?
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has so far remained unmoved by the excitement. Instead, the MEA is choosing to be cautious. “In general [the government of India] would not like to comment on the electoral process of any other country,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said tersely on Friday at a virtual briefing when asked whether the government or the Indian Embassy in Washington had reached out to congratulate Harris.
The MEA is, especially, being cautious as the bromance between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump has been strong. Prime Minister Modi's “Abki baar Trump sarkar" in Houston rally last year was seen as an endorsement, a fact that the minister of external affairs had to clarify. Harris had chosen not to attend that function.
While Harris's Indian roots have never been under question, her being Black matters more. However, it also does hint at the growing power of the brown. If Trump's Namaste India was about acknowledging the power of the influential Indian community, Biden's choice for VP is a testimony to that, too.
And it is clear that India matters. On Independence Day, Harris was the first to tweet to wish India. "Happy Indian Independence Day! Reflecting on the past 74 years, it's remarkable how much progress our people have made in the fight for justice. I hope you'll join me today in celebrating and then commit to building an even better future."
Apart from her tweet—her first real reach out to India, in her address organised by Indians for Biden National Council, she said: “Today on August 15, 2020, I stand before you as the first candidate for vice president of the United States of South Asian descent."
Presidential candidate Joe Biden has already announced that he will reform the H1-B visa systems. He has also, in a one-hour long webinar on Independence Day, promised to stand by India against any threats coming across borders. Both promises indicate that Indians will be wooed.
But will it help tame Harris's streak of being uncompromising when it comes to human rights? She has been especially vocal on Kashmir. “We have to remind the Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world. We are keeping a track on the situation,” Harris had said in a statement when she made a bid for the Presidential nomination. Can the politics of votes tame her? Unlikely, according to her family in India.
