New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) Former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said that the "productive call" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Monday evening, along with a strong possibility of PM Modi visiting Washington soon, will take the India-US relationship significantly forward in the very first few weeks of Trump 2.0.
"Trump 2.0 offers us some unique opportunities for a number of reasons. One, of course, is that he has come in with an unfettered mandate this time. He has the scope, given the fact that this is a legacy term, and the opportunity to take the relationship significantly forward. And secondly, there's a desire on both sides to work on the comprehensive global strategic partnership," Shringla told IANS in an exclusive interview.
Following the phone call, the White House said in a readout on Tuesday, India time, that both leaders discussed plans for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House, underscoring the strength of the friendship and strategic ties between the two nations.
"We have hit the ground running, both in terms of the presence of External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar at the inaugural ceremony at the Capitol Hill, and, at the same time, the invitation that has gone across to Prime Minister Modi for a separate standalone visit to the United States so soon after President Trump's assuming office. That will set the stage for all of the decisions to follow and the relationship that would see considerable enhancement ahead of a visit by President Trump later in the year for the Quad Summit that India will host," said Shringla.
The seasoned diplomat believes that even though there are a few issues that could be classified under the broad rubric of challenges - moving towards a fair bilateral trading relationship, deportation of illegal immigrants and India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment - it can be deftly tackled as Trump 1.0 saw similar requirements for the American side.
Shringla emphasised that New Delhi has never supported illegal immigration and always proactively engaged with the authorities in Washington in deportation of those who have been identified by authorities as Indian citizens.
"At the same time, I think there is a push from the US side to try and ensure that legal migration is streamlined. This is an important source of talent for the US. At the same time, for us, a lot of our talented young people would have opportunities if these aspects are simplified, whether it is access to H-1b visas or green cards. I think this should be a part of the narrative with the United States," he said.
On having a "fair bilateral trading relationship", the former Foreign Secretary highlighted that India had already been in negotiations with the US under Trump 1.0 in a partial Free Trade Agreement that can be resumed and concluded soon.
"This would mean that, at the early stages of the Trump administration, we have the basis to secure greater market access for our exports to the US and US exports to India. I think that's a good way to start that term. It also deflects attention away from the issue of tariffs, which is high on Trump's mind," said Shringla.
On the issue of increasing procurement of American-made security equipment, Shringla, who has also served as India's ambassador to the US, believes that the purchase of quality defence equipment is something that has always been calibrated into discussions with the US side.
"I think the US can offer us equipment that we are seeking. I think we'd be happy to consider those. At the same time, it does put a little bit of pressure on us to buy more defence equipment from the US. So, this is something that has to be calibrated into the overall dialogue," he said.
The Chief Coordinator of India's G20 Presidency insists that all these issues can be handled in a smooth manner considering the excellent relationship between PM Modi and President Trump.
"Successive Prime Ministers and Presidents have put their own personal weight behind progress in the relationship and that has been done by Prime Minister Modi with successive US presidents. But there is a special chemistry between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump. We have seen it during the heydays and success of the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston, or the 'Namaste Trump' event in Ahmedabad that took place in early 2020. There is no doubt about the fact that they have a great relationship.
"They have a lot of mutual admiration, respect, and that is the basis for a very substantial enhancement of the bilateral relationship because you have to start from the level of the leaders and then take it down by everything else. So, I think from that point of view, we have got on to a good start. There was a good conversation from all accounts yesterday and this is something that will form the basis for high level visits and basic decisions to follow after that," remarked Shringla.
He mentioned that PM Modi's efforts to end the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine dovetails in a certain sense with that of President Trump's goal to end the war in the region.
"Prime Minister Modi has always been saying that this is not an era of war, that we should work through dialogue and diplomacy to secure peace. In that context, he has also invested personal capital in this by visiting both Russia and Ukraine on that endeavour. From that point of view, our efforts dovetailed with President Trump's vision of bringing an end to conflict. There is a positive sign already because the Middle East is seeing a ceasefire. There's been exchange of hostages and the situation has eased up in Gaza with people going back to their homes and humanitarian assistance coming in. So, it's a positive sign there. I am sure if that can be replicated in Europe, in Ukraine, then this will be another positive sign," opined Shringla.
