Decoding 'unpredictable' Trump's India policy will be Modi's biggest challenge in US

A public validation of the India-US strategic partnership by Trump would be important

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump will provide the first real indication of where US policy on India is headed under the new administration and whether progress is guaranteed or dubious.

It might be one of Modi’s most challenging meetings with a foreign leader, whose election came as a surprise to world leaders, throwing old calculations about US leadership off while making the evolution of a multipolar world a near certainty. Trump is focused inward and it is unlikely he would become an internationalist any time soon.

Modi will have to assess whether Indo-US relations will remain upwardly mobile and stay on the trajectory set by former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, or if ties will plateau in the short term under Trump. That India has not indulged in ostentatious criticism of the US president is a plus.| economy news

Modi moved India closer towards the US during the Obama administration, issuing a joint vision statement on the Indo-Pacific and declaring that the two democracies had overcome the “hesitations of history”. The oft-cited phrase may still hold true but to what extent is the question.

economy policy| A public validation of the India-US strategic partnership by Trump would be important. Trump’s unpredictability has sent India back to the hedging table, reinvigorating old friendships and exploring new ones. It can be argued that Modi’s recent visits to Germany, France and Russia, and his determined outreach to Japan represent a new version of India’s old strategy of diversification, albeit with renewed determination. Modi will visit Israel next month in the first ever prime ministerial trip and abandon another hesitation of history, as it were.

As India repositions itself and adjusts to new realities, the relationship with the US remains key for both strategic and economic reasons, and the convergence of interest is unlikely to disappear. The US is an important trade partner, an attractive destination for Indian students and a source of high technology, even if demanding in the process.

“The best outcome of the meeting? Trump sees investing in India as good for his interests and for the US national interest,” said Ashley J. Tellis, a prominent strategic expert who has advised former presidents on South Asia. “Asian security and China’s rise were big issues for Bush and Obama and India enjoyed a pride of place in their calculations.”

Pink slips galore: Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Cognizant cut India jobs

Tech Mahindra recently fired close to 1,000 employees; Wipro was the canary in the coal mine

 

Once India's global claim to fame, the country's information technology (IT) sector is seeing a spate of layoffs by IT majors like Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant. 

The churn in the IT sector — which is moving towards increasing automation, use of artificial intelligence and is beset by tightening visa regulations — is likely to affect mid-level employees with 10-15 years of experience the most, as many are averse to learning new skills, industry experts have said.

Further, Indian IT firms are witnessing their slowest growth in a decade, while global firms are shifting their budgets from traditional IT services to newer areas such as digital and cloud, which require engineers to engage with clients instead of working remotely. Even as this shift takes hold of the sector, automation is increasingly taking over low-end maintenance work, forcing companies to shift workers to other projects and reduce hiring from campuses. 

Tech Mahindra joins the bandwagon

As reported earlier, software services firm Tech Mahindra has sacked a thousand-odd employees this month. 

However, what happened at Tech Mahindra is not an outlier, other IT majors like Wipro, Cognizant, Infosys and Capgemini are also facing their own share of challenges, and moving to either prune or re-skill their respective workforce. 

“We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different,” a Tech Mahindra spokesperson said.

As on December 31, 2016, the company’s total employee headcount stood at 117,095, while the software division had 80,858 employees. 

Wipro was the canary in the coal mine

Late in April, Wipro move to sack around 500 of its employees as part of its appraisal process. (Read more) 

The company is reported to have weeded out "non-performers" after a "rigorous performance appraisal". 

While Wipro did not specify the exact number of affected employees, the company said it “undertakes a rigorous performance appraisal process on a regular basis to align its workforce with the business objectives, strategic priorities of the organisation, and requirements of our clients”.

“This systematic and comprehensive performance evaluation process triggers a series of actions, such as mentoring, retraining and up-skilling. The performance appraisal may also lead to the separation of some employees from the company and these numbers vary from year to year,” it said. (READ MORE)