Trump govt has a positive view of India: Jaishankar
WASHINGTON: After the first round of intense back-to-back interactions ending Friday, a team of senior Indian officials said the new Trump administration had a “very positive view of the relationship and a very positive view of India” despite the fact that the two sides discussed the vexed issue of H-1B temporary visa, which is currently the biggest concern for New Delhi, and Kansas shooting.
“Overall our sense was that the administration has a very positive view of the relationship and a very positive view of India,” foreign secretary S Jaishankar, who led the Indian delegation, said. “It is natural that any new administration that comes in takes stock of the progress made, set(s) new targets and bigger ambitions.”
These were the first meetings between Indian and President Trump’s officials after the new administration took office in January. PM Narendra Modi and President Trump have also spoken twice on phone but haven’t met. When asked about the possibility of an early meeting between the two, officials said there were standing invitations for visits from both leaders, but they had no announcements to make.
The visiting Indians met three members of the Trump cabinet — secretary of state Rex Tillersen, homeland security secretary John Kelly and commerce secretary Wilbur Ross — and also National Security Adviser HR McMaster and deputy assistant to the president on international economic affairs Kenneth Juster.
The team also had extensive meetings on Capitol Hill, home to US federal legislature, which, Jaishankar said, has been “extraordinarily supportive” of India. “We saw a lot of goodwill, a lot of interest in the relationship going forward,” Shankar said, about the team’s meetings with the new administration officials and on the Hill.
The two sides discussed the different issues, starting with the Indian officials, who had been at it longer purely by being there first, bringing their counterpart up to speed on “the progress in India-US relations in last many years”. The subject of discussion depended on who the Indian team was meeting. With Tillersen, for instance, they discussed a range of international issues from AsiaPacific (read China), Afghanistan and Pakistan (often called AfPak) and the Middle East.
With commerce secretary Ross, who has intimate knowledge of the Indian business environment as founder of International Automotive Component Group, a vehicle interior specialist with investments in India, they talked trade and economic cooperation. With homeland security secretary Kelly, the topic of discussion was welfare of Indian Americans and the Indian community, especially in the context Kansas shooting.