Trump or Biden? Explaining India’s Take on US Election
19:18 02.04.2024 (Updated: 20:03 02.04.2024)
© Sputnik / Mikhail Turgiev
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While US allies in Europe and Asia-Pacific are fretting over the possibility of the re-election of Donald Trump, India remains a different story altogether.
Concerns have emerged among America's North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies as well as US allies in Asia-Pacific, mainly Australia, Japan and South Korea, over the prospect of ex-US President winning another term in power this year.
"US allies in the Indo-Pacific tremble at the prospect of Trump’s return," said a headline in Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review last month.
Since then, Trump has managed to all but clinched the Republican nomination after winning one primary after another, with his main challenger Nikki Haley dropping out of the race last month.
Trump has made it clear that he would want the NATO allies to cough up more for the military alliance's funding.
In fact, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban reportedly said after meeting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence this month that cutting off funding for NATO was part of Trump's plan to end the Ukraine conflict.
President Donald Trump welcomes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the White House in Washington, Monday, May 13, 2019
© AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta
As regards to China, Trump told American media last week that he would slap tariffs to the tune of 60 percent on Chinese imports to the US. During the previous Trump presidency, the US and China were involved in slapping tariffs and counter-duties on each other's imports.
At the same time, Trump has also vowed to slap 10 percent tariffs on imports from other nations should he be re-elected, which risks affecting trade ties with India.
Both India and Trump Want to End Ukraine Conflict: Think-tanker
Trump's statements on trying to bring to end the Ukraine conflict are "welcomed" in India, which has been resisting pressure from the Biden administration to tone down its ties with Moscow, Dr Raj Kumar Sharma, a Senior Research Fellow at NatStrat, a New Delhi-based foreign policy think tank, told Sputnik India.
"Trump has indicated that he would like to bring the Ukraine conflict to a quick end. However, he has not spelt out how he would do it. India would welcome such an eventuality and some kind of restoration of ties between the US and Russia," Sharma reckoned.
US President Joe Biden departs after delivering his State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.
© AFP 2023 SHAWN THEW
Biden Administration Continues to Meddle in India's Internal Affairs
Sharma said that New Delhi has found it relatively easier to deal with the Trump administration due to a variety of other reasons.
"Trump cared very little about India’s internal issues like human rights situation and status of democracy in the country. In comparison, the current Biden administration has made some recent comments about the domestic issues in India, something that has never gone down well with India," Sharma said, referring to the US State Department's comments on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on corruption charges.
Sharma further highlighted the convergence of policies of New Delhi and the Trump administration in dealing with China, amid New Delhi's ongoing border differences with Beijing.
"As far as security is concerned, India is not having a military alliance with the US, unlike many European countries and Asian ones like Japan. India has an alignment of security interests with the US vis-a-vis China which would not change even under Trump, as he is likely to continue his hawkish stance towards Beijing," the think tanker said.
Sharma, however, cautioned that Trump's 'America First' policy could become problematic for India.
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a fundraiser event for the Alabama GOP, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in Montgomery, Ala. Former Vice President Mike Pence is refuting claims from Trump's legal team that Trump never asked him to reject votes from certain states while certifying the 2020 election.
© AP Photo / Butch Dill
In his first term, Trump had described India as a "tariff king" for levying duties on American imports. Trump 1.0 had also expelled India from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme, a US scheme granting preferential access to imports from developing nations.
"India does have some cause of concern as trade issues could become problematic during the Trump tenure. However, India does not enjoy a big trade surplus over the US and in coming months, a free trade agreement could possibly be negotiated between the two sides," Sharma reckoned.
Sharma also underscored that Trump has backed India's concerns over cross-border terrorism, which has resonated across the south Asian nation.
"Trump had stopped military aid to Islamabad citing its poor record in tackling terrorism emanating from its territory. After the Pulwama terrorist attack in India in February 2019, the Trump administration had supported India’s right to self-defence, something that could be seen as a support to the air strike that India later conducted in Pakistan," the expert said.
An Indian paramilitary soldiers guards on a nearby mountain as others attend a memorial dedicated to soldiers who were killed in a 2019 attack at the Central Reserve Police Force headquarters in Lethpora, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.
© AP Photo / Mukhtar Khan
India-US Relations Enjoy Bipartisan Support: Ex-Envoy
India would remain important to the US regardless of who wins the November election, ambassador Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian envoy to Jordan, Libya and Malta, told Sputnik India.
He underlined that India-US relations enjoy "bipartisan support" in Washington DC.
"It is for the American people to choose their President. In any relationship there are always issues which need to be resolved through consultations, dialogue and in accordance with existing agreements. India is as important to US as is US to India and we have dealt with leaders from both sides of the aisle," stated Trigunayat.
