Thread by @d_jaishankar

THREAD: With @realDonaldTrump headed to India in about 10 days' time, on his first visit there as president, a little bit of background that may be of interest --

@realDonaldTrump First, some historical context. This would be only the 8th visit ever by a serving U.S. president to India, after Eisenhower (1959), Nixon (1969), Carter (1978), Clinton (2000), George W Bush (2006), and Obama (2010 and 2015).

@realDonaldTrump (Historical aside: President Ulysses S. Grant did visit India as part of his 'world tour' immediately after leaving the presidency in 1879.)

@realDonaldTrump Back to the present:

First, some context on how Trump's election affected four aspects of India-U.S. relations (from 2017):

- Bilateral ties (trade, immigration, etc.)
- Strategic cooperation in Asia
- Counter-terrorism cooperation
- Global governance

brookings.edu/wp-content/upl…

@realDonaldTrump Next, a more recent article on Trump's foreign policy worldview and implications for India, particularly his:

- Scepticism of multilateralism
- Dealings with adversaries & use of force
- Resetting terms of economic relations

hindustantimes.com/analysis/will-…

@realDonaldTrump A longer narrative piece in Seminar on how India engaged with the Trump administration over the first two years (2017-2019), covering issues such as trade, Russia, immigration, and Iran.

india-seminar.com/2019/715/715_d…

@realDonaldTrump Now, on the bilateral defence relationship and how that's improved. There have been some developments since this article was published, notably the conclusion of COMCASA, the first Tiger Triumph tri-service amphibious exercises, and elevation of Quad.

ndtv.com/opinion/5-fact…

@realDonaldTrump From about six months ago, I highlighted what were then four potential problem areas in India-U.S. relations, namely trade, Russia, Iran, and Afghanistan.

eastasiaforum.org/2019/07/24/fou…

@realDonaldTrump Finally, a recent take - before the official announcement of the visit - about what Trump seeks out of his trip to India.

hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-p…

@realDonaldTrump Post-script: I've not addressed attempts (with varying degrees of success) to mend fences on the four problem areas discussed earlier. Iran is mostly resolved (energy for Chabahar), progress on Afghanistan, CAATSA uncertain, and on trade...let's see! reuters.com/article/usa-tr…

Post-post-script: a reminder—

“Only 9% of Indians had an unfavourable view of the US in a 2017 survey, the lowest among the 37 countries polled. A 2018 survey indicated that 75% of India’s strategic community believed the US to be India’s most important partner on global issues”