Trump prioritises Americans’ safety: Officials on Pannun plot
NEW DELHI: President Donald Trump prioritises nothing more than the safety of every American, said senior Trump administration officials in first remarks on the foiled murder-for-hire plot against US national and India-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The Biden administration had indicted an Indian govt official for orchestrating the plot, forcing Indian authorities to launch a probe in the case.
“I can tell you President Trump, you’ve seen this in recent days, with respect to the persons we’ve brought home, he prioritises nothing more than the safety of every American, and that is the continued position of this administration,” said a senior official when asked if Trump was going to raise the issue in his meeting with PM Narendra Modi.
The remarks came in a background media briefing, in which White House officials also underscored the perception of India-US ties as among the most critical partnerships of the 21st century and said Trump was going to do his part to ensure that remains the “foundational element moving forward”. The officials said the countries are moving towards signing a new defence framework and that there’s ongoing conversation about a number of new procurements by India that can help reduce the trade deficit. India is expected to agree to more energy and defence purchases from the US in the meeting with Trump.
Talking about Trump’s agenda with India, they said the US will build on defence sales to India, prioritising the use of American technology and India’s status as a key importer of America’s natural resources. According to the officials, Trump will seek a fair trade partnership and discuss ways to build up the Quad partnership to promote stability and peace across the Indo-Pacific. Specifically on China, alluding to the previous Trump administration’s support for India during the eastern Ladakh standoff, the official said that the president is very proud “in the summer of 2020” to have augmented and strengthened the partnership with India, particularly in the border crisis with the Chinese, and that “portends kind of continued cooperation”.
Days before the return of Trump to the White House, the Indian high-level committee probing alleged Indian involvement in the plot against Pannun had filed a report recommending quick legal action against Vikash Yadav, the accused official. India is hoping the matter will be allowed to rest here and will not get the kind of salience it got under the Biden administration.
The officials appreciated recent measures by India that could help reduce the trade deficit the US runs with India. “I anticipate what you’ll see coming out of a meeting (Modi-trump) today is further momentum towards a solidified fair, and I emphasise that word fair bilateral trade arrangement between our two dynamic and growing economies, and the hope would be to have such a deal in place in the calendar year 2025,” said an official, while also expressing support for IMEEC, iCET and I2U2.
“Critical technologies partnership between our economies is important to ensure that free societies are leading the way in some of the most important technologies in the future. I expect collaboration will continue with this administration, and you will see some announcements… some of the key areas, semi-conductors, critical minerals, supply chain resilience and diversification, those are good things for our economy and the president certainly believes that too.”
