India’s relations with the US will be at a “much stronger level” when Donald Trump returns to the White House, as cooperation between the two countries extends from the environment to technology, space and defence, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday.
As a candidate, Trump has talked about overhauling US foreign policy, focusing on ‘America First’ principles, and has talked about imposing tariffs on foreign goods, raising concerns in New Delhi.
Scindia’s comments, the first by a senior Indian government official after Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Trump on his victory, showed that India still hopes to maintain seamless trade and economic relations with the world’s largest economy and strongest military power.
The United States is also India’s largest trading partner with an annual trade volume of over $190 billion. “I think US-India relations under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and President-elect Donald Trump will be on a strong footing,” Scindia said in a video and text interview with PTI.
Scindia said India’s relationship with the US over the past decade under Modi has led to greater trade, economic momentum and strategic ties between the two countries on many global issues.
The election result made Trump the only US president after Grover Cleveland to serve consecutive terms in more than 130 years. Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.
Noting that India is the world’s largest democracy and the US is the world’s oldest democracy, Scindia said, “There have been major areas of convergence in Indo-US relations”.
“That relationship has taken a more tangible form in the last ten years since Prime Minister Modi made independent relations with the US. Not only has there been a big boost in trade and economy but it has led to strategic relations in many global issues,” he noted.
Trump during the election had alleged that India imposes high tariffs on foreign products and vowed to introduce similar tariffs if elected. This, it was interpreted, may disturb the relationship between the two nations.
Scindia said that apart from cooperation in the field of environment, technology, and defense, India and the US have signed an agreement to establish a semiconductor manufacturing unit that will supply chips to American defense companies.
“We will build a fabric in India to even supply chips to US defense manufacturing companies. A first,” he said. The US State Department has entered into a partnership with India to diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) fund.
The first phase of the partnership includes a comprehensive assessment of India’s existing semiconductor ecosystem and regulatory framework, as well as workforce and infrastructure needs.
Analysts say Trump, who blocked the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement process and scrapped free entry under the decade-old Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in his second term, may move further on protectionism. He also threatened that he will not do business with those who travel far away from the US dollar.