President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi congratulated Donald Trump, President-elect of the United States of America.
Prime Minister Modi was among world leaders who spoke to Mr. Trump, hours after he scored his surprising win.
“PM conveyed his best wishes & the two leaders looked forward to working closely to take the India-U.S. strategic partnership to a new height,” said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup , describing the phone conversation between the leaders on Wednesday night.
According to Shalabh Kumar, an Indian American donor to the Trump campaign, Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump would meet soon, “perhaps in the first 100 days.”
President Mukherjee took to microblogging site twitter to congratulate Mr. Trump, saying, “congratulations @realDonaldTrump [Mr. Trump’s twitter handle], on your election as the 45th President of the United States of America.”
In a statement released later, the President said Mr. Trump’s “victory is a celebration of the spirit of individual heroism that has always defined the American national identity. It is also a celebration of people’s power that nurtures democracies like India and the U.S.”
“India and the U.S. share common values of democracy and pluralism. Strong people-to-people ties bind our nations. Our strategic and economic interests increasingly overlap. We also face common challenges. There is enormous potential for building synergies between our countries. I hope your Presidency will usher in a new era in the growing India-U.S. partnership. As you prepare to take up your responsibilities. I convey my best wishes for your success in office and for your personal well-being,” he added.
Ms. Gandhi, wishing Mr. Trump said that she hoped that he would have a great tenure at the Oval office and that the India-U.S. relationship would be strengthened during the course of his presidency.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too sent a congratulatory message to Mr. Trump.
The BJP also welcomed Mr. Trump’s victory. Party general secretary Ram Madhav, tweeted that “with both the House [of Representatives] and Senate solidly behind him packed with Republicans, Mr. Trump will have a field day for the next four years in U.S. politics.”
PTI adds..
Hindu Sena distributes sweetsA right-wing outfit on Wednesday celebrated the victory of Republican Donald Trump in the U.S. polls, saying his Presidency would “further boost” Indo-American ties.
“We are very happy... we have been cheering him during the campaign period too. Today, we gathered in the streets and played drums and distributed sweets,” said Vishnu Gupta, chief of Hindu Sena group.
“Now India has one of the biggest friends in the White House. India and the U.S. can together work to banish terrorism,” he said.
