The administration of United States President-elect Donald Trump hopes to break new ground in selling advanced weapons systems to India, news that will likely be “music to the ears” of the government of India, according to a close associate of the Republican billionaire.
Along with a sharp focus on increasing the quantity and quality of weapons procurement from the U.S. by India, Washington under the Trump administration would also hope to lift bilateral trade from a little over $100 billion to at least $300 billion during the President-elect’s first term and even up to $1 trillion by the end of his second term, said Shalabh Kumar, founder and president of the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), and a community organiser for Mr. Trump’s campaign.
‘Impact of Hindu-Americans’
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Kumar, who met Mr. Trump at his Manhattan residence on Thursday, said that at the October 15 event, during which Mr. Trump addressed supporters from the RHC and made the “ Ab ki baar Trump Sarkar ” advertisement, the impact of Hindu-Americans on the campaign was recognised.
When questioned on specifics about the weapons systems that the U.S. might hope to sell to India on Mr. Trump’s watch, specifically whether the proposal might include armed drones, Mr. Kumar said that he was not a military expert and hence could not comment on that subject.
However, he said that discussions on this subject would focus on “the procurement of advanced military weaponry for the defence of [India]. [Mr. Trump] is very much for that. This is the second time when he affirmed [this]. The first time [was] when we had apprised him of the situation which does not allow U.S. companies to sell advanced weaponry to India. He at that time had expressed the opinion that that should be changed. In Thursday’s meeting he reaffirmed [this].”
‘It should be no probs’
Mr. Kumar added, “As soon as we could manage to get [new] legislation through Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, so it should be no problem at all. We should have that legislation in a pretty short time.”
On a different note, he said that in his conversation with Mr. Trump, Mr. Kumar had cited data that he said was from Zee News in the U.S., showing that while 16 per cent of Hindu Americans voted for the Republican party in 2012, a whopping 65 per cent of them voted for Mr. Trump on November 8 this year.
He said that the President-elect wanted to thank the RHC for its contribution in the campaign to “switch over Hindu-American vote from 2012 to 2016.”
Mr. Kumar added that Thursday’s meeting was a broader gathering between his and Mr. Trump’s family, as Mr. Kumar’s daughter, Bollywood actor Manasvi Mamgai had also attended, as did Mr. Trump’s children Ivanka, and Eric.
‘He loves Hindus, India ...’
In response to a question on what to make of the reportedly affirmatory conversation between Mr. Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 30 Mr. Kumar said that “nothing has changed from the October 15 statement where [Mr. Trump] said he loves Hindus, India and… [He intends to have a] very solid, great relationship with the Hindu-American community and India.”
This weekend Mr. Kumar and his daughter would again be accompanying Mr. Trump to Orlando, Florida, speak further about the contributions of RHC to his campaigns and possibly touch upon policy issues relating to India.
