What does Donald Trump’s winning means to India and the world
Dr VK Bahuguna
November 12, 2024, 04:53:21
Donald Trump has won the 2024 Presidentialrace of the United States of America with a thumping margin by creating history by securing 292 Electoral College votes and defeated Kamala Harris who was the favourite of media. Trump has a unique persona and the world is agog with all kinds of rumour about his second inning. He survived an assassination attempt on September 15th 2024 during his election campaign as the in famous deep was doing all its bids to prevent his election and Barack Obama India’s bête noire firmly in the saddle on behalf of Harris. His victory was best described by the Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy who was initially a Republican hopeful but finally supported Trump’s candidature. He received highest votes in swing state Texas and won other swing states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida also comfortably. In the words of Ramaswamy, “Trump’s come back is American comeback. Our nation deserves a badass Commander-in-Chief right now and that is exactly what we got”. Trump was very ably supported by Elon Musk through $119 million funds during campaign as also through It will be interesting to define the adjective ’badass’ an informal word with multiple meanings. It is used for a person who is tough, dangerous, or likely to cause trouble and also a really impressive person. Because of this Trump’s victory has sizzled many minds all over the word and the best example is the Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, currently heading the government after Sheikh Hasina a democratically elected Prime Minister was ousted by the well planned agitation. Yunus has been actively criticizing Trump all through to please the deep state and who is looked down upon by the Trump has suddenly become an overnight admirer of Trump. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi must also have felt very good on his election as both are good friends though intensely nationalist and have an excellent chemistry with each other. Mr Modi must have missed meeting him during his September US trip but for the protocol issues and sensitivity of Biden.
U.S. presidential election, the global political landscape is likely to experience significant shifts based on his domestic and foreign policy approaches. Here are several potential impacts on world politics. First of all Trump will have renewed focus on America first policy. He may see the national interest first in his international geo strategic policy and potentially scaling back US involvement in world affairs and agreements. Even with traditional partners like NATO and European Union he will ask them to spent more money on defence and thus change security scenario with lesser commitment on shared security. The Russian President had congratulated Trump on his victory and Trump is likely to respond well as he is keen to reduce war like situations. He may cut down the financial and military assistance to Ukraine and that may force Ukraine to come to negotiation with Russian President Putin and thus may help in ending this mindless conflict.
As far as India is concerned, the second term of Trumpone of the key pillars of U.S.-India relations under Trump’s first term was a focus on strategic cooperation and more close cooperation on defence matters, especially regarding shared concerns over China's rise and more involvement with Quad Cooperation countries viz.India, Japan and Australia. A second Trump term would likely continue to emphasize India as an important partner in balancing China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Trump’s emphasis on "reshoring" U.S. manufacturing away from China and India will benefit from its with investment as also its role as a key partner in global supply chains, especially in areas like pharmaceuticals, electronics, and manufacturing. Further, India is one of the world’s largest energy consumers, and Trump’s focus on energy independence for the U.S. could lead to increased cooperation on energy security, including trade in oil, natural gas, and renewable energy technologies. U.S. firms might also look to invest in India’s energy infrastructure and power generation capacity.
Now the flip side Trump’s stance on immigration, particularly his administration’s efforts to limit H-1B visas, which are crucial for Indian tech workers, might continue to be a point of contention but Indian techies did not face much difficulty because he is concerned with those who just want to enter America. He in fact welcomes high calibre professionals if not available in USA. However, if he imposes restrictions on Indians, while this would frustrate Indians, it could also prompt India to double down on building its own tech ecosystem, potentially creating more collaboration opportunities like in past. Indian students and professionals could continue to be an important source of talent for U.S. companies, even if Trump’s immigration policies limit this flow somewhat s between Indian tech firms and U.S. companies as has been done in some cases in past.
On climate change negotiation he may again quit and that will be the biggest setback for the international community but people must remember also that these Conferences of Parties (CoPs) except for some success in 2015 Paris agreements are proving ineffective jamborees where the country representative arrive at some face saving declaration which at best is vacuous because unless the developed world finance the technologies needed to combat climate change the talk to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degree will be a mirage indeed. For past few years the promised 100 billion dollar funds is still a pipe dream for developing countries as only around 3 % of the promised $ 100 billion has been transferred.
India will be closely observing the Trump administration on his promise to end terrorism and in this regards his attitude to Pakistan which is a fountain head of terrorism. It is hoped he will support Indian position strongly and overcome the special love of Department of State and White house for pampering Pakistan for long. India will like a genuine on terrorism from Pakistan. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also take up on table the activities of non state actors called deep state who tried to destablish India and were openly controlling Media against Trump himself during 2924 elections. Only Elon Musk came out openly against the US media and stoutly defended him in X and it was one of the reasons that Trump won the swing states like Pennsylvania. All his policies will be clear in January 2025 till then let us wait.(The writer is former member of Indian Forest Service)
(Tripurainfo)