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A lot of countries are nervous about the US, India not among them: Jaishankar

by TRANS WORLD FEATURES | @twfindia 11 Nov 2024, 01:46 am

New Delhi/IBNS: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal rapport with US President-elect Donald Trump, asserting India is not among the countries that are "nervous" about the political change in Washington, media reports said.

Speaking at an event, Jaishankar said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first three calls, I think, that President (elect) Trump took."

"For him [Narendra Modi] there's something natural in terms of how he forges those relationships. So that's helped hugely. And I think the changes in India have helped as well."

"I know today a lot of countries are nervous about the US, let's be honest about it. We are not one of them," he added.

Prime Minister Modi Thursday called his 'friend' and US President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate the latter on his "spectacular victory".

"Had a great conversation with my friend, President @realDonaldTrump, congratulating him on his spectacular victory. Looking forward to working closely together once again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defence, energy, space and several other sectors," Modi posted on social media.

As Trump is projected to tighten the borders and immigration policies, experts believe that the same could affect the H-1B visa rules, impacting costs and growth for Indian IT firms.

Even his policies might impact India-US trade as over 80 percent of India's IT export earnings come from the US, making it vulnerable to changes in visa policies.

However, with Trump sharing a strong bond with PM Modi, his election can be good news for India geopolitically.

Banking on his promise to "fix America" and "make it great again", Donald Trump has also become the first Republican to win the popular vote in two decades.

“Thank you very much. Winning the popular vote was very nice, very nice, I will tell you," Trump said in his victory speech.

"We are going to help our country heal, fix our borders, we made history for a reason tonight. We have achieved the most incredible political win. I want to thank the American people. I will fight for you and your family with every breath in my body," he said, thanking the nation.