Air Force One with Donald Trump touches down in India

AHMEDABAD, Feb 24, 2020, India Today. Air Force One with Donald Trump and the US delegation, including First Lady Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, has touched down at the Ahmedabad airport. PM Modi and other dignitaries are waiting at the airport to welcome President Trump and the others, India Today reported.

From defence and trade to Kashmir, a wide range of issues are likely to be discussed during Trump’s visit maiden India starting Monday.

President Donald Trump will be the first American head of state to come to India on a standalone visit. This signifies the importance that the Trump administration attaches to ties with India in a busy election year.

With no major trade deal in the offing, a highly placed source told India Today TV that this would be the first “people-oriented” visit of the US President. The visit will focus on Donald Trump’s interaction with the people of India which will resonate back home with Indian-American voters.

The personal touch also comes with daughter Ivanka Trump accompanying her father and husband Jared Kushner on the visit. While confirming her plans, sources told India Today TV that Ivanka Trump “fondly remembered her meeting with PM Narendra Modi” earlier. Ivanka Trump is the Assistant to the President and Advisor to the President while her husband Jared Kushner is Assistant and Senior Advisor to the President.

Along with the US President and First Lady Melania Trump, a 12-member US official delegation will also be coming to India.

Others include Ambassador Ken Juster, the United States Ambassador to of India; Secretary Wilbur Ross of Commerce Department; Secretary Dan Brouillette of the Energy Department; Mick Mulvaney, Assistant to the President and Acting Chief of Staff; National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien; Stephen Miller, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Policy; Dan Scavino, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Digital Strategy; Lindsay Reynolds, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady; Robert Blair, Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Telecommunication Policy and Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff.

ENERGY

In terms of substance from the visit, there is going to be a huge engagement on the energy front. “It is not just about crude oil and LNG, with the US emerging as an important energy exporter for India, it ensures prices remain low and stable at a time of great geopolitical disruptions,” a government source told India Today TV.

Hydro-carbon imports have increased to $7 billion in recent years and the US is now the sixth-largest exporter of crude oil to India. India Today TV has learnt that India is now planning on buying 10 million tonnes of high-grade coal worth $2 billion in the coming future. This would be important for India’s steel industry.

On the sidelines of the visit, there could be certain business agreements that would be signed — a significant deal would be signed between ExxonMobil and Indian Oil on LNG infrastructure and pipelines.

STRATEGY AND DEFENCE

The strategic alignment in Trump era has increased significantly. An official asserted that Indo-US ties have many pillars, of which the strategic aspect has become one of the most important.

India’s military equipment purchases from the USA have already reached $9 billion in five years. It is not just about “quantity” but also “quality”.

“Technology denial regime in the US is dying. We are not just buying more, we are buying better,” a source said.

The US is India’s biggest bilateral military exercise partner. There have been more exercises with the US than with any other country.

According to sources, negotiations on the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for geospatial cooperation are at an advanced stage. The next round of negotiations will be in March 2020. India is hopeful for BECA to be signed in the coming year. The pact is expected to give a boost to the country’s defence system and counter the Russia-China-Pakistan (RCP) axis.

Meanwhile, the Union cabinet committee on security on Wednesday cleared the purchase of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Indian Navy in the next two weeks ahead of Donald Trump’s visit. However, there was no confirmation if a deal will be signed during Trump’s visit.

There is a greater policy congruence region after region, be it the Indo-Pacific. “Connectivity conversation with US industrial complex, alliances and cooperation in South Asia, or for that matter the strong backing by the US on Article 370 and Kashmir at the UNSC despite China, UK ganging up against India,” a diplomatic source said.

COUNTER-TERRORISM

Cooperation on counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing will be a priority area for both sides.

The US has also been an important P5 nation at the UNSC supporting India in getting Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar designated and in the grey-listing of Pakistan at the FATF.

TRADE

Sources have confirmed to India Today TV that both sides were ready with a “small package” ahead of the visit but the Trump administration wants a “big trade deal”. India Today TV has earlier reported how US backed out of the deal at the last moment.

“The big package also holds opportunities for both of us. It might have lower tariffs for the USA and a preferential trading agreement for India with more space for exports,” the source said.

At a time of great global crisis, Indo-US trade has grown 10 per cent in the last year.

“The trade deficit is not also huge. There are trade sensitivities on US’ part which India has tried to address,” said an official.

For the US, trade imbalance and market access are areas of huge concern.

A senior US administration official said on Friday, “The trade and economic relationship with India is critically important to the United States and I think also access to the United States market is critical to the Indian government. We do want to make sure that we get this balance right. We want to address a bunch — a lot of concerns, and we’re not quite there yet.”

The H1-B visa issue is a concern for the Indian side and it will be taken up during the delegation-level talks while the Trump administration is moving towards a merit-based approach.

“Trump’s re-evaluation of India as critical to the global supply of skilled labour, trained human capital will only be an advantage but the matter has to be addressed,” said a source.

For India, the priority area is the restoration of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) which was revoked last year.

“The concerns that led to the revocation, suspension of India’s GSP access remain a concern for us. And to remind those on the call it was really the failure of the Indian government to provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets in numerous sectors,” a senior US administration official said.

“We continue to talk to our Indian colleagues about addressing these market access barriers. Our trade teams led by USTR have been in touch with their counterparts over the past several weeks. That engagement will continue,” the official added.

CAA/NRC and KASHMIR

President Trump is expected to raise the issue of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC) during the “restricted dialogue” between him and PM Narendra Modi, a source told India Today TV.

“I think President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and religious freedom both in his public remarks and then certainly in private. He will raise these issues, particularly religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration,” the US administration official said.

“We do have this shared commitment to upholding our universal values, the rule of law. We have great respect for India’s democratic traditions and institutions, and we will continue to encourage India to uphold those traditions,” added the US official.

The US has expressed concerns on these issues in the past as well, the official said.

“I think that the President will talk about these issues in his meetings with Prime Minister Modi and note that the world is looking to India to continue to uphold its democratic traditions, respect for religious minorities. Of course, it’s in the Indian Constitution — religious freedom, respect for religious minorities, and equal treatment of all religions in India,” the US official said.

Sources also said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed on homeland security to form a joint working group (JWG) to ‘strengthen cybercrime, global supply chain security, border security, and trans-national crime’.

Share it

| | | | | |

Exclusive: Beyond the Covid-19 world's coverage