With the 2008 US Presidential elections entering the final phase, the campaigns of both Barack Obama, the Democratic party candidate and his Republican counterpart, John McCain are in high gear. In terms of foreign policy orientation concerning India, both Obama and McCain have made their policy objectives clear in a series of speeches made over the past several months.

On the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement, Barack Obama voted in favour in 2006 and has since striven to ensure that the agreement is implemented soon. Although he had some initial concerns about the non-proliferation aspects of the original document at the time of its debate in the US Senate, subsequently, he supported the agreement in its totality taking into view India's strategic, non-proliferation, energy and environment interests. John McCain has all along been an enthusiastic supporter of Indo-US nuclear deal. He opposed all forms of 'killer amendments' when the accord was discussed and debated in the US Congress. India, according to McCain, has been a 'responsible, law-abiding nation' and can be counted upon in the global effort in controlling proliferation of dangerous weapons.

On Pakistan, Obama has called Bush and McCain's policies of unconditional support for President Musharraf as wrong and unwise. He has been very forthright in his resolve to destroy al Qaeda's sanctuary along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, if elected. Obama also links efforts towards counter-terrorism with a broader plan for bringing about democracy, social and economic development in Pakistan. Obama has co-sponsored legislation with Senator Joseph Biden (now his running mate) to triple non-military assistance to Pakistan over the next decade. Meanwhile McCain has advocated a policy of engagement with Pakistan and its military elite in transforming the US' Pakistan policy. Like President Bush, he is quite vocal in fighting war on terrorism along the Afghan border with Pakistan as a frontline ally.

John McCain's China policy mirrors that of Ronald Reagan's 'trust but verify' doctrine. McCain is in favour of maintaining a 'delicate balance of strategic ambiguity' and at the same time support 'One China' policy which includes a peaceful reunification with Taiwan. McCain is also in favour of granting permanent Normal Trade Relation (NTR) status to China and engage China in both trade and diplomacy in order to enhance the US leverage over China. To Barack Obama, China is a competitor, but not an enemy. However, he was very critical of the Chinese government's action in Tibet and co-sponsored legislation calling for restraint by all sides.

In contrast to India which signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002, both McCain and Obama are less supportive of the protocol. While Obama has problems with Kyoto Treaty for lacking "meaningful and actionable emissions target," for McCain, it is not the US but India and China that will account for most of the emissions in the coming decades. If elected, McCain has pledged to establish a market-based system to curb greenhouse gas emissions, mobilize new technologies and jumpstart the economy for better energy future.

On outsourcing of jobs, Obama reiterated at the recently concluded Democratic Convention in Denver of the need for generating jobs to stay in America and not to be outsourced. At the same time, he has acknowledged that in a competitive world, "workers in Chicago and Boston must compete for jobs with workers in Bangalore and Beijing." McCain, meanwhile is rather bullish on economic ties with India and tends to favour the status quo. McCain and Obama have also both voiced support for granting more visa for skilled workers under H1-B category, one that is mostly coveted by Indian students and technicians. Obama is also in favour of a more liberal visa regime for reuniting families.

Both the Senators support the expansion of UN Security Council as the current structure and composition are not reflective of 21st century realities and one that has excluded two large and very important countries such as India and Japan. On G-8, McCain would like to include India and Brazil and exclude Russia. India, according to McCain, is a market democracy that should be co-opted into the group of industrialized countries.

Both Obama and McCain recognise the fact that India in a short time span has been able to enhance its GDP growth rate from 3 per cent to 9 per cent and has embraced a globalized world along with its complexities. Furthermore, India's record in overcoming obstacles to the country's growth while maintaining its secular and multicultural ethos has been appreciated by mainstream American observers. India has also done a lot of good in being both a hard power in terms of nuclear deterrence, military modernization and robust economic growth as well as a soft power in shaping values, beliefs and attitudes of a wide cross-section of world's population. It seems likely that no matter who wins in the upcoming November elections for the US presidency, India will be in a win-win situation.