Did India-US ties grow during Donald Trump's presidency? What S Jaishankar said

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addresses the closing day of Raisina Dialogue 2024, in New Delhi on Saturday.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said the India-US relationship deepened during Donald Trump’s tenure as US president, despite “there were issues”. Speaking at the ‘Conflict, Contest, Cooperate, Create’ session at the 9th Raisina Dialogue in Delhi, S Jaishankar said, “Trump was president from 2017 to 2021. We had a very good relationship with him. He came here on a visit, my prime minister went there for visits. Like any relationship, there were issues but overall if I look, in those four years did our relationship deepen? Did it grow? Absolutely, it did.”

Trump visited India in 2020 and addressed a rally with the prime minister in Gujarat’s Motera, where he said , “We will always remember this remarkable hospitality. We will remember it forever.”

The EAM added that it wasn’t just Donald Trump, India’s ties have improved with every successive presidency after Bill Clinton.

“It’s not just Trump, if you look at India-US from perhaps Bill Clinton, with every presidency, the relationship has deepened. You could attribute it to structural advantages or you could attribute it to clever diplomacy. It has grown and I have every confidence that it will continue to do so,” Jaishankar added.

Trump is currently campaigning in the US ahead of the upcoming presidential elections. He won the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday.

Further, Jaishankar also spoke about the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK. In January 2022, India and the UK initiated talks for a free-trade agreement (FTA), which has progressed through 13 rounds thus far. The 14th round commenced last month, covering 26 chapters encompassing goods, services, investments, and intellectual property rights.

Jaishankar said, “Both countries would stand enormously to benefit. Today, how different economic production and consumption centres deal with each other is a very major point and to an extent we can facilitate it. FTA is one way of facilitating it, connectivity is another way of facilitating it, and digital flows are a third way of facilitating it. The reason we are engaged in this exercise is precisely because both of us see a lot coming out positively from that FTA.”

India’s industry advocates for increased entry for skilled professionals, especially from IT and healthcare sectors, into the UK market, alongside access to certain goods at zero customs duty. Conversely, the UK seeks substantial reductions in import duties for items such as scotch whiskey, electric vehicles, lamb meat, chocolates, and specific confectionery products. Moreover, Britain aims to expand opportunities for UK services in India, particularly in telecommunications, legal, and financial sectors like banking and insurance.

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