Trump to call Modi and everyone is on their toes

On his fourth day in office, the new president of the United States, Donald J Trump, would be dialling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's number. A call has been scheduled between the two leaders for 1pm EST (11.30pm IST).

Modi is the fifth world leader after prime ministers of Canada, Mexico, Israel and the Egyptian president who President Trump is set to call.

The conversation is expected to set the tone for Delhi's engagement with the new administration in Washington DC.

Despite recent historic bilateral pacts that elevated India as a major defence partner of the US and bipartisan support in the Congress, India has much to worry about Trump's views on outsourcing.

With his Make America Great Again and America First war cry, the Trump administration is expected to place curbs on H1B and L1 visas, crucial to Indian tech firms and techies in the Silicon Valley. The power corridors in India are yet to get a clear understanding of how the Make In India slogan will resonate with American protectionism.

The Republican for Hindus Coalition led by Indian-origin Shalabh Kumar was an important contributor to Trump's campaign fund.

Trump had even announced his love for "Hindus" at the organisation's fundraiser, which the South Block had been cautious about reacting to, given India's secular fabric and because Hillary Clinton was tipped to be the presidential favourite then.

A day after Trump's surprise victory that shocked many, Modi had congratulated the then president-elect soon after his win, on November 9.

Addressing the inaugural session of the recently-held second Raisina Dialogue, the prime minister said, "With the United States, our actions have brought speed, substance and strength to the entire spectrum of our engagement."He further added that in his conversation with Trump," we agreed to keep building on these gains in our strategic partnership."

With Trump adopting a stern approach with respect to Beijing and talking tough on trade and Chinese manoeuvres in the South China Sea, India will have to cautiously gauge China's reaction in the region and the world.

The tango between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be an important lookout for Delhi, to see signs of any changing axis in the neighbourhood with old ally Moscow getting closer with China and working with Pakistan.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar, addressing the Raisina Dialogue, had said,"We established early contact with the Trump transition team and see a strong convergence of interests and concerns. With Russia, India’s relationship has actually grown very substantially in the last two years, as has the bonding between our leaders. An improvement in US-Russia ties is therefore not against Indian interests."

In his inaugural speech, Trump swore to "eradicate radical islamic terrorism completely from the face of the earth".

India would like to know if the islamic terrorism encompasses terror outfits targeting India from Pakistani soil as well or will it only be about the Islamic State or ISIS. In Gen Mattis as his secretary of defence, Trump has a retired marine corps commander with 41 years of military experience who has worked closely in the Af-Pak region, but hardly had interactions with India.

In his Senate hearings ahead of his confirmation though, he recognised India's role in region and replied,"Cooperation on defence trade and technology has grown to the benefit of both countries under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative.I also believe that India’s ‘Act East’ policy allows it to play a greater role in contributing to security in the Asia-Pacific region.”

It would be interesting to see how the chemistry between Modi, who rose from a chaiwala to the post of the prime minister, and Trump - the multibillionaire political outsider who now commands the superpower nation, plays out.

Despite their strikingly different personalities, Modi and Trump's predecessor Barack Obama met eight times in a span of two years.

And India was crucial in Obama's drive for the Paris Climate Change act as well the Asia pivot strategy. Tuesday will set the ball formally rolling for a new chapter in Indo-US relations.