Click to play videoWashington: NASSCOM congratulated Senator Barack Obama on his historic victory and welcomed. India Inc also expressed the eagerness to the opportunity of working with the President-elect to boost economies of both nations.
But the welcome close on the heels of worries that Barack Obama had expressed the desire to retain jobs on American soil instead of outsourcing.
He had said that he was a solid supporter of the growing Indo-US strategic partnership and backs the landmark bilateral nuclear deal, but has strong views about outsourcing of US jobs overseas, a cause of concern for Indian businesses.
The 47-year-old, elected as the first black President of the US, is said to have a close affinity with things Indian.
He carries a miniature figure of Lord Hanuman for luck and had a picture of Mahatma Gandhi placed in his Senate office.
In a message of India's 62nd Independence Day, Obama had said Gandhi's active role in India's independence movement has "inspired generations of young people around the world to pursue freedom in their own countries."
"As freedom faces challenges in many parts of the world, his (Gandhi's) example is even more relevant. This enduring legacy is one of the great gifts of India's revolution," Obama had said.
He felt that it was "only natural" that the world's oldest and largest constitutional democracies should enjoy "strong relations". America and India share many common goals and interests and the US is New Delhi's largest trading and investment partner, Obama had noted.
"With India, America has one of its most important relationships in an uncertain world. Both countries, India and America, are working to protect their people and values of 21st century threats while at the same time respecting the rule of law and cultural pluralism," the African-American leader said.
Obama initially had reservations about the Indo-US nuclear deal and had even introduced a 'killer amendment' when the deal was first debated in the Foreign Relations Committee, but later backed it strongly both in the floor of Senate and outside.
Obama's stance on the outsourcing of jobs can be a major worry for the BPO sector.
The BPO sector will be in focus with the US president-elect Barack Obama expressly against outsourcing.
The question arises as to how will it impact the Indian IT sector particularly the BPO sector.
Chairman of Nasscom, Ganesh Natrajan had expressed on November 4 that Obama will do nothing that will disturb the success of these companies and come in the way of current outsourcing.
“We should not worry about any ban on outsourcing; it is just not going to happen. If at all, he might give incentives to job creation in America which we support and I don’t think that is going to add any adverse impact on Indian outsourcing," Natrajan had said to moneycontrol.com.
A statement by Obama in the past about ending tax breaks to companies which export jobs out of US has given sleepless nights to BPO sector which services many US based companies.
In that context would those companies then pass on those additional costs to Indian companies to which they are outsourcing the work?
Natrajan had said, "Firstly I think it’s a political rhetoric in the sense that there are no specific tax breaks that the company gets for doing work aboard. Crystallization will mean jobs will get done wherever it makes more sense. So, I don’t think there is any specific tax break that should be avoided. If at all he might give incentives to job creation in America which as I said we support and I don’t think that is going to add any adverse impact on Indian outsourcing."
Narayana Murthy, the founder and Chief Mentor of Infosys say that victory of Obama ushers in a paradigm shift in global politics. Coming at time when reckless capitalism is under threat, Murthy says the Obama at the helm could see more of compassionate capitalism coming in.
"Today is an extraordinary day. The US has voted for compassionate capitalism over laissez faire capitalism. Besides, this election has shown that meritocracy matters most," Infosys chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy said in a statement.
"We believe President-elect Obama to be a pragmatic leader who understands that American industry needs to be competitive not just in America but in third (world) countries as well. This election has also proved that the internet is a powerful medium for raising funds," Murthy added.
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