Brij Bhardwaj
There is growing optimism that outstanding issues between India and the USA will be sorted out. The major issues relate to illegal migrants and trade. After Mr Trump took over the office of U.S. President he has emphasised the issue of illegal migrants and trade. The two issues have become a subject of controversy between the U.S.A and different countries including India. The countries include many old allies of the U.S.A like Canada, Columbia, Europe and China and India.
President Trump has started a drive against illegal migrants and has started sending them back using Military aircraft. In the case of India about 17,000 have been identified as illegal migrants. There are also issues regarding H2 visas and trade. At one stage the U.S. President had threatened to impose duties on imports from India as he has done in the case of China and a few other countries.
Mr Trump, however, has also mentioned that India has agreed to take back illegal migrants. He had also hoped that India would buy more defence equipment from the U.S.A so that the trade between the two countries would become more balanced. In this context, it may be mentioned that lately the U.S has become one of the major sources of defence equipment. This includes heavy duty aircraft, helicopters, and drones. The U.S also provides engines for locally manufactured Tejas fighters. India, which at one stage was totally getting defence equipment from Russia, has lately expanded the number of countries from which it buys defence equipment. These include the U.S.A, U.K, France and Israel. President Trump however is keen that India should buy more goods made in the U.S.A. It is not an isolated case of pressure being put on India but part of a general approach adopted by the new U.S regime.
Given the fact that both India and the U.S.A are keen to expand areas of cooperation and friendship it is hoped that the issues will be resolved. In this context it may be mentioned that in case of President Biden, Prime Minister Modi was the last foreign dignitary to visit the U.S.A, but in case of President Trump, he will be the first. Both also enjoy good understanding with each other and have expressed admiration for each other in the past.
The initial work for resolving issues between two countries has been done at the official level. The Foreign Minister, Mr S Jaishankar, who attended the swearing in of President Trump, has also held several meetings with U.S. officials and the visit of Prime Minister Modi to U.S.A will put the final seal on them. It is expected that in view of the common threat the two countries face from China, and close collaboration between the two is a good possibility. Both are also expected to discuss a common approach on maintaining peace and keeping the oceans free for trade and commerce.
There have been many signs that relations between India and the U.S are growing. For instance the issues relating to import of cheap oil from Russia in view of U.S trade sanctions has been resolved. The U.S. has also removed some of the Indian entities which had been black listed for supplying banned items. A solution has also been found for the involvement of Indian officials in an attempt to assassinate a Sikh militant in the U.S.A. As such, one can predict that friendship between democratic countries India and the U.S.A will continue to grow in future.
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