New Delhi (Sputnik) — As Donald Trump prepares to take over the White House, India is confidence in the US President-elect’s approach to the new global era of recalculation and recalibration. India’s Foreign Secretary predicts that bilateral ties between US and Russia could undergo a massive transformation in the coming years.
“Relations between US and Russia could undergo a transformation that we may not have seen since 1945. Its dimensions, leave alone implications, are hard to predict. Europe, engrossed in multiple domestic challenges and reconfiguring itself, signals less appetite for more distant politics, even as it watches these developments,” says S Jaishankar, India’s Foreign Secretary at second edition of Raisina Dialogue.
But, could Russia’s close engagement with Pakistan and China have left India regionally isolated?
“As Russia works with China and Pakistan to engage the Taliban, jettisoning its historic animosity to the group, India might find itself regionally isolated. The Afghan government is too weak to assert its primacy in the process. And given Trump’s soft corner for Russia, if he decides to buy into Moscow’s argument, then India’s Afghan policy will once again be at a crossroads. It is possible that New Delhi may have to revisit some of the fundamental assumptions of its Afghan policy soon,” said Harsh V Pant, Distinguished Fellow and Head of ORF’s Strategic Studies program.
Regional isolation will not be the only concern for the Delhi. Trump warns American companies from investing in countries like India. This may erode India’s positive trade balance with US which currently stands at an annual $23 bn and Trump is unlikely to share defense technology to assist Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
