Will Trump Win US Presidential Elections?
Donald Trump
Hyderabad: Does India firmly believe that Trump will win the race inUS presidency? Does India want Trump to come to power to end the war between Russia and Ukraine? If the comments made by the key leader of the Republican Party, Nikki Haley are any indication, it appears so.
Nicky said that Putin did not commit any aggression when Trump was in power but when obama was the President Putin occupied Crimea, attacked Ukraine at the same time when Biden became President, he atracked Ukraine. That is why America needs a strong president, she said.
May be India also feels the same way.
The question now arises is will Trump be able to bring peace by making Putin to cease war? Will he be able to maintain proper relations with India and Russia.
The US National Security adviser cautioned that strong ties with Russia were a bad bet for India. America has made similar comments on India's relations with Russia in the past. But India did not care much. A neutral attitude has been followed. Now with Modi's hugging Putin, questions were raised about India's foreign policies. In particular, the question arises as to why Modi is giving priority to Russia instead of America.
Certainly India does not want to spoil relations with America. There is historical reasons for this.
Then why is it maintaining close relations with Russia.
Historically, it has been the biggest supplier of weapons and other defence equipment to India – from the MIG and Sukhoi fighter jets to, more recently, the S-400 anti-missile defence systems.
Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, India has also dramatically ramped up its purchase of Russian crude. Russia is today India’s biggest supplier of oil and those imports have led to the total volume of India-Russia trade .
At the same time, India has in recent years strengthened its ties with the US, whose help it sees as essential to ward off the perceived threat emanating from China’s rise.
Modi and Donald Trump had good relations earlier also. The two leaders had a few years ago held joint public events in Houston and the Indian city of Ahmedabad.Recently modi reacted on the attack on trump, describing Trump as my friend.
After attack Indian administration was increasingly convinced that Trump might return to power in November. Trumps victory would help India, by easing the pressure on New Delhi to turn away from Moscow.
A second Trump administration, almost certainly, will care less about the optics of Russia-India ties. In his first term as president, Trump focused US strategic attention on Washington’s rivalry with Beijing, rather than on Moscow – a worldview that is in sync with India’s. India too views Beijing as its principal threat.