Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has been capitalizing on his state’s economic connections to India during his diplomatic stay in New Delhi. His continued presence there throughout the tense Texas invasion begs us to ask if he is there for other unspoken reasons.
Abbott has been on a diplomatic visit to India to discuss the nation’s economic ties to Texas. He has spent his time with Indian officials deliberating where they can improve their relations further and promote their success.
Texas has great interest in supporting relations with India. The Lone Star State holds the second-largest population of Indian Americans in the United States. It has the ninth-largest economy in the world, while India has the fifth-largest.
Houston is the energy capital of the world. Texas also has one of the most abundant nonrenewable resource collections in the U.S. These factors provide the state with a massive and lucrative blue-collar industry, hosting a third of the nation’s jobs relating to oil and gas extraction. Indian immigrants seek these high-wage jobs in droves.
However, Abbott’s state is in one of its most dire situations since the Civil War. It is facing an invasion of an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants on its southern border, bringing with it massive crime, cultural destabilization, and economic hardships. On top of that, the federal government is encouraging this migrant flow.
Last week, President Joe Biden tried to force Texas to give his Border Patrol agents access to a park near the border where migrants are processed for release into the country. Abbott put his foot down and defied the federal government on the constitutional grounds of self-defense in case of invasion, which he claimed supersedes the power of any national authority. With his home state and the national elites engaged in such a heated standoff, why is Abbott still in New Delhi?
Some worry that Abbott’s Texas resistance may ignite a second civil war. While no officials have stated anything explicitly of the sort, more than half of the nation’s governors allied with Abbott and promised to send him resources and manpower to resist the government and secure the border. Texas has also been steadily moving heavy military-grade vehicles into strategic locations.
Given these indications of a possible escalating civil conflict, Texas would be wise to optimize its relations with foreign nations that worry Biden’s government is too feeble to aid them properly in this time of international tension. Abbott made sure to capitalize on the similar crises Texas and India are undergoing last week in New Delhi following Biden’s threats.
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“Each of us sits in a critical location — India, with China and Russia on their doorsteps, and Texas at the nexus of the United States and Latin America,” Abbott said. “We share the common values of family, faith, compassion, and hard work. As we look towards the future, we must ensure that the next generation of leaders in Texas and India will be the innovators who solve the world’s foremost crises and that embracing the values we share leads to liberty and prosperity unmatched throughout the entire world.”
Many more nations like India are increasingly discontent with Biden’s incompetence. While several of them are gravitating toward the open arms of our enemies, Texas may be setting itself up to become an alternative ally.
Parker Miller is a 2024 Washington Examiner winter fellow.