India and US relationship will be on "a very firm footing" with Donald Trump returning to the White House, as the cooperation between the two nations extends from environment to technology, space and defence, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Wednesday.
As a candidate, Trump had spoken of revamping US foreign policy, focusing on 'America First' principles, and has also talked about imposing tariffs on foreign goods, raising concerns in New Delhi.
Scindia's comments, the first by a senior Indian government functionary after Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Trump on his victory, indicate that India remains optimistic that it will continue to have unhindered trade and economic ties with the world's largest economy and strongest military power. The United States is also India's largest trading partner with the total annual trade crossing USD 190 billion.
"I think that the US-India relationship under the stewardship of both Prime Minister Modi and President-Elect Donald Trump will be on a very, very firm footing forward," Scindia said in an interview with PTI.
Scindia said that the India-US relationship in the last decade under Modi has led to huge amounts of trade, economic thrust as well as strategic relationship between the two countries on many global issues.
The election result makes Trump the only US president after Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms in more than 130 years.
Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president, serving from 1885 to 1889 and then again 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 huge parts of intersection between Indo-US relations".
"Those relationships have taken a much more concrete form in the last decade since Prime Minister Modi has forged an independent relationship with the US. It has resulted in not only a huge amount of trade and economic thrust coming to the fore but also led to a strategic relationship on many global issues," he noted. -- PTI