External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during an interaction at Chatham House on March 5, 2025. Photo: X/@DrSJaishankar
Citing the shifting geopolitical order, energy, tech and connectivity initiatives, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that several priorities of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration were promising for India.
“I think we see a President and an administration which, in our parlance, is moving towards multi-polarity. And that is something which suits India,” he said, clarifying that by practicing multi-polarity, the Trump administration was in fact promoting it.
Also Read | If Pakistan vacates PoK, Kashmir issue will be ‘solved’: Jaishankar
“I think, from President Trump’s perspective, the one big shared enterprise that we have is the Quad [Quadrilateral Security Dialogue],” Mr. Jaishankar said, referring to the grouping of India, the U.S., Australia and Japan.
Each Quad member was paying its “fair share”, Mr. Jaishankar said, and so there were no spats about burden sharing. Financial burden-sharing has become a central issue between the U.S. and several European countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance.
Mr. Trump “appears open to connectivity initiatives of a certain collaborative nature” Mr. Jaishankar said. “We have a deep interest in that,” he added.
The Minister was presumably referring to the India Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEC), which finds mention in the India-U.S. joint statement that emerged from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral discussions with Mr. Trump at the White House last month. The statement also refers to other current and future connectivity initiatives, such as the newly announced Indian Ocean Strategic Venture.
Also Read | Jaishankar, British Foreign Secretary discuss Ukraine, Bangladesh, bilateral ties
On energy, Mr. Jaishankar said India welcomed Mr. Trump’s actions that would keep energy prices stable and affordable. Mr. Trump is a strong proponent of fossil fuels and is changing U.S. policy to drill for more petroleum and natural gas.
The Trump administration’s emphasis on the development of tech, and the use of tech “as a game changer in global politics” offered a lot of possibilities, according to Mr. Jaishankar.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is currently in Washington DC, to discuss a trade deal with the Trump administration, a fact that Mr. Jaishankar brought up.
Also Read | Jaishankar meets U.K. PM Keir Starmer and Cabinet officials
‘No interest in undermining U.S. dollar’
India U.S. relations are at probably their best, Mr. Jaishankar said.
“So we have absolutely no interest in undermining the dollar at all,“ he said, adding that the problem in India’s region was the lack of availability of the dollar.
Mr. Jaishankar was asked about the internationalisation of the Rupee and whether India supported the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
Mr. Jaishankar said that the government was promoting the internationalisation of the Rupee as part of the effort to promote the globalisation of India. He cited a growth in India’s trade, external investments and Indian tourists. Sometimes there was a lack of hard currency, especially the dollar , necessitating the use of trade settlements, or a need for cashless payments between India and other countries, the Minister said.
Later in the discussion, Mr. Jaishankar said the dollar was the source of international economic stability and, right now, there is a need for stability.
In February, Mr. Trump had threatened at least 100% tariffs on BRICS (Bazil Russia India China South Africa) countries if they wanted “to play games with the dollar”.
The BRICS countries had a diversity of views on the dollar , as per Mr. Jaishankar.
“The assumption that somewhere there’s a united BRICS position against the dollar, I think is not borne out by facts,” he said.
Working with the U.S. to strengthen the international financial and economic system should be the priority for India, Mr. Jaishankar said.
Published – March 06, 2025 04:21 am IST
