‘Donald Trump’s victory is no reason for any major change’

NEW DELHI: Hours after Donald Trump won the US presidential polls beating Democrat rival Hillary Clinton, Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor told Jayanth Jacob that India has no reason to expect a major change in ties.

What does a Trump presidency mean for India?

The fundamentals of the US-India relationship are sound and we have (had) good relations with both Republican and Democratic administrations. So I see no reason for any major change.

What if he decides to act on campaign issues such as

H-1B visas?

If Trump seeks to fulfil all his campaign commitments, there will be a setback or two. Indians are overwhelmingly the principal users of H-1B visas; the restrictions will affect Indian IT companies. Indian students may also suffer.

Many analysts say Trump presidency is good for India’s anti-terror efforts with Pakistan. Your take? I am alarmed by the complacency with which many Indian analysts on TV think that Trump will be good for our antiterror efforts with Pakistan. Though Trump sees “radical Islamic terrorism” as the biggest threat, Pakistani generals have proved to be adept at convincing Republicans that they are the best bulwark against Islamist terror. I fear that we may see a repetition of the same, using Trump’s own logic in Pakistan’s favour. We should reach out as early as possible to Trump and the motley crew of advisers around him who might constitute his foreign policy team. I assume that we have begun to do so.

As for Prime Minister Modi? As for Mr Modi, I think he is canny enough to keep multiple options open in India’s interest. We have interesting times ahead!