We can hope for an organised transition in Afghanistan in which India can play a constructive role

President Obama?s re-election was expected. We should remember that prior to the first Presidential debate, he had built a clear 10-point lead over Romney. This has now been reaffirmed by the clear victory that he has achieved.

The tightness of the race during the last few weeks was, in my view, more a media creation and did not reflect the ground realities. At least the final tally, with Obama winning 303 of the 509 electoral college votes counted till the time this column went to print, and likely the popular vote as well, would tend to support this. I think people all over the world are heaving a sigh of relief because, given the many changes in his stance on a wide range of issues, Romney would have been an unknown and I dare say an unpredictable entity to deal with. Whether we agree with him or not, at least President Obama has the virtue of consistency in both his domestic and foreign policies. We can now be sure that the US will withdraw from Afghanistan, it will continue to press Pakistan to take a tougher stand against Islamic terrorists and not foment Taliban trouble across the Durand line. Let us hope that under his renewed mandate, the US will put sufficient pressure on the ISI for them to realise that trying to calibrate the behaviour of the Taliban and expecting its influence to remain confined on the other side of the border is a fool?s hope which they would do well to give up. With President Obama back in the White House, we can hope for an organised transition in Afghanistan in which India can play a very important and constructive role.

It is also a relief to realise that the US will now continue with its constructive engagement with China, putting mild but consistent pressure on China to conform to the rules of the game in global governance and in maintaining the multilateral trading order, and strengthening the global financial architecture. Romney had threatened to up the ante vis-?-vis China and that had the potential to create large-scale dissonance in world markets, and in the security sphere as well. With the new regime taking over in Beijing, continuity in the White House and in the US stance towards China will be more comforting for those coming into power in China and encourage the liberal tendencies which can be expected to have greater political support with the ouster of Bo Xilai. President Obama?s more sophisticated and nuanced approach towards maintaining the US leadership position while continuously striving for broader coalitions and consensus is inherently superior to any ?Cold War-like? stance in sustaining the current multi-polar global order. The G-20 may well get a new lease of life and even some new momentum with his re-election.

We have discussed the global and external implications for India of Obama?s re-election not only because it is important that India?s external environment remains stable and peaceful, but also because, unlike in the case of the Indo-US bilateral relationship, Delhi has very little role in shaping the contours of the global order. So, it is helpful to realise that, with Obama in the White House, India can expect another four years of relatively benign global environment in which it can pursue its development priorities.

Indo-US bilateral relations will hopefully continue to further strengthen in the second term of Obama?s Presidency. The current Obama administration, pretty much across the board, has unambiguously shown that it wants to improve ties with India and raise them to the level of a working strategic partnership. In the last four years, the State Department has increasingly taken on India?s concerns in its engagement in South Asia. The US expects India to play an important role in the newly-launched Silk Road Initiative that attempts to bring Central and South Asia closer. While being clearly disappointed, the US neither created too much of a fuss nor let the bilateral ties be affected when the large order for the next generation fighter aircraft went to the French firm Dassault. And to the best of my knowledge, the US has resisted the temptation to ask India to become a partner in any moves directed against China. Overall, the last four years have seen a consolidation of the Indo-US bilateral ties. With President Obama now being re-elected, there is a clear possibility of not merely continued consolidation but of raising these ties to a higher level. If the Obama administration shows its willingness to raise the level of Indo-US engagement, it will be in our interest to reciprocate any such gestures. Perhaps the US will now insist on such reciprocity.

What could India?s response be if the Obama administration in its second term offers a possibility of more intensive engagement? In my view, India will do well to continue with its mature and well-honed policy response. This, in effect, has been to create a broad platform of diverse interactions between the two countries in an attempt to achieve a steady, but certainly not a high velocity, deepening of the bilateral relations. Perhaps an additional element could be to ensure that we refrain from opposing the US on issues that may not necessarily impinge on our national interests.

Moreover, India could try and emulate the French example of letting it be known to the US that while our broader interests converge sufficiently for us to become strategic partners, there will continue to be some differences in our stance towards global issues. The US will surely recognise and accept these differences as they are a result of our history, culture and compulsions of having to cope with the most heterogeneous, complex and diverse domestic polity.

The author is a senior independent economist