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Indians and Chinese do seem to broadly believe in abortion and progressive tax rates, and have little to none of the cultural grievances that thé contemporary right uses to avoid talking about economics. India is a deeply socially conservative place, yes, but in a very different way from what a westerner would recognize.
Yeah, a lot of their culture doesn't map into a traditional left-right axis which places primacy on ideas and not on identity.
For example, in the West, a leftist might support redistribution from the rich to the poor. A rightist might be against redistribution. But there's another perfectly legible viewpoint which is to support redistribution from you to me, regardless of who is poor or rich. I think a lot of Indians land here.
The idea of couching policies in terms of universalism is WEIRD. "Why must a policy benefit all of society?", the Third Worldist asks. "I vote so the government will give me money"
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