Former Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, says Donald Trump will be transactional in his approach towards India but the strategic importance of the country to the US will remain unaltered and there are unlikely to be substantial changes in the Indo-US relationship. However, one area where there will be a difference is that Trump will not pay attention, as the Biden administration did, to India’s treatment of Muslims or its democratic backsliding. But the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun issue, which is now with the US Courts and the Department of Justice, will continue to work its way through the American system as it is presently doing. Shankar says there will be “less support for the Khalistan issue”.
Trump is likely to be an even more powerful president than he was the first time because he’s won the popular vote in addition to the electoral college and the Republicans have regained control of the Senate. This means there will be fewer checks on his power and the Senate will accept his nominations, including for the Supreme Court, without demur.
