Why MAGA will automatically lead to MIGA

One never knows when the law of unintended consequences will kick in. US President Donald Trump wants to Make America Great Again. But many of his actions could well end up weakening some aspects of American trade and internal supply chains. India, on the other hand, has a golden opportunity to strive for a new kind of greatness.

- Sunil Rajguru

It is getting more and more difficult to go to the US and stay there nowadays. While applying for a visa, if you change your DS-160 form after getting an appointment, then you will have your appointment cancelled. While biometrics were necessary for tourist and business visas, they will now be compulsory for H-1B visas too along with a detailed home address. Once on American soil, you must always carry: Your identity card and your registration documents. Failing this you will be penalized. It doesn't matter whether it's a Green Card or not. For students, if you participate in a protest, jump a red light, exit a store without paying for something or even skip classes, you could be summarily deported. Not a very pleasant time for Indians visiting the US short term or long term. Now the Green Card can be cancelled more easily and there is a proposal that it can be cancelled in retrospect. What happens if you become a citizen, but your Green Card gets cancelled in retrospect few years before you got your citizenship? Can they cancel your citizenship on the basis of that? That's a cruel sword of Damocles hanging above you.

NO MORE BRAIN DRAIN?

The above is a crisis. That is where India usually scores. I have written many times how we always turn adversity into opportunity. The 1950s famine became the 1960s Green Revolution. The 1962 war defeat became the 1965 comeback. In 1977 Janata Party threw out IBM from the country. The 1980s Congress government brought back IT with a bang. The late 1980s financial crisis became the Liberalization of 1991. The Y2K crisis led to the birth of the IT services industry.