“I can’t predict what Donald Trump is going to do,” US Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Mark Warner, told the president and CEO of the United States-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Dr. Mukesh Aghi. , at the opening session of the last day of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Friday. Warner said that while he believes Trump was directionally okay with China, he expects the Biden administration to remain tough on Beijing. Warner also said that Trump appears “disconnected from his official duties.”
The US senator spoke about the recently concluded US presidential elections, ties between India and the United States, and the changing dynamics of global politics amid the pandemic.
“There is virtually no one in the White House or my colleague in the Republican Senate who believes that he (Donald Trump) is going to overturn the outcome of the election,” he said.
He said Joe Biden’s team would be very diverse. “The world realizes that the people who came into the Biden administration have been multinationals,” Warner said.
“We think about Indian-American relations, we have the first Indian American vice president,” he added.
Regarding India, Warner said he believes that “the Indian government, at times, has not been as advanced in defending the case, not just in the United States but globally over Kashmir.”
The senator said he is aware that Trump and Prime Minister Modi “seemed to have a good personal relationship,” and he hoped the new administration “can build on some of the progress made by the Trump administration (with India).”
“The Biden administration will be open to promoting ties with India,” Warner added.
Warner spoke on the final day of the HT Leadership Summit, which will also feature international pop star Nick Jonas, actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Harvard Medical School professor of global health Vikram Patel. The finale will be marked by a closing concert by singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad.