WASHINGTON: Exterior affairs minister S Jaishankar met Vice President Kamala Harris’s nationwide safety advisor (NSA), Philip Gordon, and a high advisor to President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign in Washington DC this week.
This marks India’s highest degree of engagement with each Harris and Trump’s groups because the two leaders turned the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.
Gordon, who is anticipated to get a high nationwide safety place if Harris is elected president, posted on X that it was “nice” to satisfy Jaishankar this week. “We took inventory of essential progress within the U.S.-India relationship, together with our rising protection and know-how cooperation. We additionally mentioned regional safety points within the Indo-Pacific, the Center East and Europe.” Jaishankar posted, on X, that it was good to see Gordon in Washington DC. “Appreciated the dialog on our bilateral ties and numerous world developments.”
Jaishankar’s engagement with Trump’s group was not made public. However HT has learnt that the minister met a high Trump advisor, who served in a key place throughout Trump’s first time period. Either side exchanged views on world developments, with the Republican aspect expressing Trump’s continued dedication to stronger India-US ties.
Gordon is an professional on Europe and West Asia and served in each the Invoice Clinton and Barack Obama administrations. Throughout a think-tank stint prior to now, he has visited India. He was an early backer of Harris throughout her 2020 presidential run and served as a international coverage advisor on her marketing campaign. When she turned VP, Gordon was first her deputy NSA earlier than turning into her high advisor.
In his present position, Gordon has been more and more engaged with Indo-Pacific points. As VP, Harris has visited Indo-Pacific area 4 instances. She is known to have performed a task in preliminary exploratory conferences with Japan and South Korea that led to first the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral at Camp David in 2023, after which with Japan and Philippines that led to the primary US-Japan-Philippines trilateral earlier this 12 months.
Harris’s strategy to China will probably be guided, in response to these accustomed to the her worldview, by an emphasis on preserving the “rules-based order” and respecting worldwide legislation. That is distinct from Biden’s emphasis on framing the US-China competitors as one between democracies and autocracies in precept. In observe although, observers imagine that it’s going to translate into broad continuity with the Biden administration’s robust strategy to China notably on questions of free and open Indo Pacific, financial practices and know-how, and strengthening of alliances and partnerships within the area the place India will proceed to play a key position. Up to now, Harris has nonetheless been important of India’s human rights file.
The Trump marketing campaign’s international coverage strategy has been articulated within the Republican platform that was accepted on the celebration’s conference in Milwaukee and in a International Affairs piece by Trump’s former NSA Robert C O’Brien. In his piece, O’Brien categorically referred to as out China’s menace to American pursuits and advocated an strategy that rested on “peace via power”.
The Trump administration between 2016 and 2020 was the primary to recognise China as an adversary. It imposed tariffs on China in a commerce warfare. It revived Quad on the official after which ministerial degree, and it strengthened the defence and safety partnership with India. Trump additionally supported India within the aftermath of the Pulwama terror strikes and through India’s Balakot response. If elected, whereas observers don’t low cost Trump’s means to shift positions and strike a take care of China, his place and that of the Republican management and base has been staunchly hawkish on China up to now, notably on Beijing’s financial practices and aggressive intent within the area.
Throughout his go to to the US, PM Narendra Modi didn’t meet both Harris or Donald Trump, regardless of Trump publicly suggesting that Modi was “coming to satisfy” him. Modi has had two in-person conferences with Harris, in September 2021 and in June 2023 when the VP hosted a lunch for the PM on the State Division and fondly recalled her Indian roots. The PM shared a private relationship with Trump throughout his years in workplace, internet hosting him in India in February 2020 and attending a significant rally in Houston together with Trump in 2019.
