New Delhi: Indian Americans broadly support the overall trajectory of the US-India relationship, according to a new survey by global affairs think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, even though about half of the respondents did not seem to know about the US accusing the Indian government of orchestrating a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader on American soil.
The study titled ‘Foreign Policy Attitudes of Indian Americans: 2024 Survey Results’, which was published Monday, showed that four in 10 Indian American respondents believe that the Joe Biden administration did a good job of supporting India during its four years in office.
However, Indian Americans are concerned about bilateral relations under the Trump administration, despite the presence of several Indian-origin figures in key roles, such as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel.
Authored by political scientists Sumitra Badrinathan of American University, Devesh Kapur of Johns Hopkins-SAIS and Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav, the study is based on the 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey, which Carnegie conducted in partnership with YouGov.
Roughly half of the survey’s respondents approved of the Biden administration’s approach to bilateral relations with India, and a portion believe that the India-US relationship “would have been more likely to prosper under a putative Harris administration compared to a second Trump administration”.
Opinions seem to be varied across the board. However, given that more than five million people of Indian-origin live in the US, the survey presented an important glimpse into the attitudes of a wealthy diaspora that is both socially and politically mobile.
In brief, the survey showed that the Indian American community was broadly supportive of the Biden administration’s approach to India, despite having shifted rightwards as a community. When it comes to India, the respondents were “more bullish” on the country’s domestic trajectory compared to 2020—a “near majority of Indian Americans approve of Modi’s performance as prime minister, though many are concerned about rising Hindu majoritarianism”, the study says.
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Diverse opinions
The second in a series of surveys on Indian Americans’ views during the 2024 US election cycle, this survey asked its respondents five main questions—how the Biden administration handled the US-India relationship, how the diaspora views recent controversies like the “murder-for-hire” allegations, their stance on the Israel-Hamas war, their thoughts on India’s trajectory and the state of Indian democracy, and how they evaluate politics in India.
Around 1,206 Indian American adults were surveyed between September and October 2024 in an attempt to capture opinions on foreign policy. The study noted that 2024 was widely hailed as the “year of elections”, with 73 countries going to the polls—including India and the US.
The survey revealed that Indian Americans are not a monolithic group and, in fact, hold a range of diverse opinions. However, they largely converge on major themes, such as overall support for the Biden administration’s approach to India and growing anxiety over what a Trump presidency could mean for India.
More significantly, there has been a 10-percentage-point increase in the number of Indian Americans who support Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party domestically in India, with four in 10 respondents saying that the 2024 general elections made India “more democratic”.
There has also been a demographic shift within the diaspora regarding Modi: “Older respondents, women, those with a lower socio-economic status, and non-citizens are less supportive of Modi in 2024 than in 2020,” the survey showed. On the other hand, younger respondents were more supportive of Modi.
“Indian Americans, by and large, do not possess clear partisan identities in India. But, to the extent that they do, they tilt towards the BJP,” the study concluded.
It further highlighted the incongruence of this attitude with the overall support for the Biden administration’s approach to India, which many have criticised for prioritising morals and values over larger strategic interests. Critics point to the US lecturing India on democracy and minority rights, as well as the various diplomatic issues that have arisen over the past year.
No real awareness of contentious issues
A series of challenges affected the India-US relationship in the past year in the lead-up to the Indian and US elections.
These included allegations that the Indian government masterminded a “murder-for-hire” plot in the US, a US indictment of Gautam Adani on corruption charges, and disagreements over the approach to the Sheikh Hasina-led regime in Bangladesh and its collapse.
These developments fuelled a belief within the BJP and its supporters in India that the US “deep state” was conspiring to undermine the Modi government, but such a sentiment does not appear to have taken hold within the diaspora.
The “murder-for-hire” allegations, although sensational, were not well known within the diaspora. Only about 51 percent of the respondents were aware that such allegations had been made, despite the heavy media coverage the incident received in both India and the US. Asked whether the Indian government would be justified in assassinating a US citizen on US soil, 51 percent said that India would not be justified, but 26 percent said it would be.
The findings support the “prevailing wisdom that most people living in the US do not pay close attention to the details of foreign policy or consider it a top-tier election issue”, the study said.
To probe Indian Americans’ views on Hindu majoritarianism, the survey asked respondents to reflect on Modi’s comments during the 2024 campaign, when he referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and said that the Opposition’s victory would lead to Hindus’ land and wealth being forcibly redistributed.
Seventy percent of the respondents “either strongly or somewhat agree that Modi’s statement exemplified the growing threat to minorities in India”.
Regarding the Israel-Hamas war, there is a bipartisan divide among Indian Americans. Democrats were more likely to express empathy for the Palestinian cause, while Republicans were more pro-Israel.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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