External Affairs minister of India S Jaishankar said that India needs to adopt “out of syllabus” foreign policies in order to deal with US President Donald Trump.
Jaishankar said this in response to a question about what Trump’s second term as the US President would mean for India during an interactive session at Delhi University’s Hansraj College.
“Yes, he (Trump) will change a lot of things, maybe some things will be out of syllabus, but we have to conduct foreign policies out of syllabus in the interest of the country,” he said, adding, “There may be some issues where we differ, but there will be many areas where things will be in our shed”.
Jaishankar represented India at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony at the invitation of the US government on January 20 and carried a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Trump.
“I recently attended his (Trump’s) oath-taking ceremony and we received good treatment. I believe he is an American nationalist,” the External Affairs Minister said.
He said that Trump had “very good impressions” of his last visit to India. “There is a lot in our shared interest on a country-to-country basis,” he added.
Jaishankar said that although Trump’s policies could bring significant changes to global affairs, India’s foreign policy will continue to be guided by the national interest.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Trump on Monday in their first conversation since Republican leader assumed office for a second term.
“Delighted to speak with my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump @POTUS. Congratulated him on his historic second term. We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership,” PM Modi said in a post on X.