India-US Relations Firm Under Trump: Scindia

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) India and US relationship will be on "a very firm footing" with Donald Trump returning to the White House, as the cooperation between the two nations extends from environment to technology, space and defence, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Wednesday.

As a candidate, Trump had spoken of revamping US foreign policy, focusing on 'America First' principles, and has also talked about imposing tariffs on foreign goods, raising concerns in New Delhi.

Scindia's comments, the first by a senior Indian government functionary after Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Trump on his victory, indicate that India remains optimistic that it will continue to have unhindered trade and economic ties with the world's largest economy and strongest military power. The United States is also India's largest trading partner with the total annual trade crossing USD 190 billion.

"I think that the US-India relationship under the stewardship of both Prime Minister Modi and President-Elect Donald Trump will be on a very, very firm footing forward," Scindia said in a video and text interview with PTI.

Scindia said that the India-US relationship in the last decade under Modi has led to huge amounts of trade, economic thrust as well as strategic relationship between the two countries on many global issues.

The election result makes Trump the only US president after Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms in more than 130 years. Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president, serving from 1885 to 1889 and then again from 1893 to 1897.

Noting that India is the world's largest democracy and the US is the world's oldest democracy, Scindia said, "There have been huge parts of intersection between Indo-US relations".

"Those relationships have taken a much more concrete form in the last decade since Prime Minister Modi has forged an independent relationship with the US. It has resulted in not only a huge amount of trade and economic thrust coming to the fore but also led to a strategic relationship on many global issues," he noted.

Trump has during electioneering alleged that India imposes the highest tariffs on foreign products and vowed to introduce a reciprocal tax if elected to power. This, it was construed, may disrupt the ties between the two nations.

Scindia said that besides cooperation in the field of environment, technology, and space to defence, India and the US have signed an agreement to set up a semiconductor manufacturing unit that will supply chips to US defence companies.

"We are going to be setting up a fab in India to even supply chips to US defence manufacturing companies. That's the first," he said.

The US State Department has entered into a partnership with India to diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) fund.

The initial phase of the partnership includes a comprehensive assessment of India's existing semiconductor ecosystem and regulatory framework, as well as workforce and infrastructure needs.

Analysts say that Trump, who had blocked the dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organisation and removed duty-free access under the decade-old Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme in his second term could move more towards protectionism.

He has also threatened not to do business with those who are moving away from the US dollar.