The following article originally appeared in the Indian Foreign Affairs Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, Jan-Mar 2017. The full text can be accessed here.
What does the election of Donald Trump as President of the
USA mean for India? The short answer is that no one knows, not even Trump
himself. India was fortunate not to feature prominently during the heated and
divisive 2016 US election season. The occasional statements concerning India by
President Trump and his advisors during and after the campaign sent mixed and
sometimes contradictory signals. Additionally, the belated appointment of
senior officials to key government positions after his inauguration (and the
profiles of those currently in place) suggest that some of the bigger questions
about US engagement with the rest of the world remain unsettled.
In an era of greater flux and uncertainty, it is
nonetheless important for India to identify the key variables triggered by
President Trump’s election, and their implications. They relate, essentially,
to four broad areas: bilateral relations; the Asian balance of power;
terrorism; and global governance.
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