TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL FURTHER CEMENT TIES WITH INDIA-SOURCES

Trump administration will further cement ties with India: SourcesIndia has started on the front foot in bilateral ties with the United States, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar  attending President Donald Trump’s inauguration as a special envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and then meeting top officials of the new administration.

Jaishankar was sent as a special envoy as PM Modi does not attend inaugurals.

After being accorded top protocol at President Trump’s inauguration ceremony, EAM Jaishankar met National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and then attended Quad meeting  with newly appointed secretary of state Marco Rubio, Australian foreign minister Penny Wong and Japanese foreign minister Iwaya Takeshi.

This was immediately followed by a bilateral meeting between Jaishankar and Marco Rubio. The importance of India in the Trump calculus was indicated by the fact that first multilateral meeting of Marco Rubio was the QUAD meeting and the first bilateral meeting of secretary Rubio was with India.

Trump administration decides to further cement ties with India

According to top sources, the Trump administration has decided to further cement ties with India while giving out a clear cut message in the Indo-Pacific through QUAD meeting, and through the bilateral meeting with minister Jaishankar.

It is learnt that the Trump administration will carry forward the India-US bilateral momentum achieved during the previous administration, and is all set to forge big steps in technology, defence and security, trade and commerce, and economic ties.

While the QUAD meeting was a review of the past steps taken by the grouping, Secretary Rubio reminded his three counterparts that it was President Trump who had started the QUAD foreign ministers dialogue in 2017.