Appreciate friendship towards India: Modi congratulates Trump on US election win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated United States President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday after the tycoon-turned-politician pulled off an upset victory.

Updated on: Nov 9, 2016, 14:48:42 IST

Hindustan Times | By Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated United States President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday after the tycoon-turned-politician pulled off an upset victory.

During his campaign, Donald Trump had called India a ‘key strategic’ and ‘natural’ ally, and promised Indian-Americans that he would take bilateral ties to a new high if made US President, and even boost intelligence sharing in the fight against terrorism. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT Photo)

Modi said he appreciated the friendship Trump articulated towards India during his campaign.

Read: Trump towers over White House challenge, Hillary goes downhill

“We look forward to working with you closely to take India-US bilateral ties to a new height.”

Trump won the presidential polls – both by electoral college votes and popular votes – in a surprisingly decisive victory over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Trump won most of the battleground states and carried traditionally Republican states with huge margins – the spread and depth of his appeal leaving even seasoned pollsters flummoxed.

Watch: Trump’s best quotes from the election campaign

During his campaign, he had called India a “key strategic” and “natural” ally, and promised Indian Americans that he would take bilateral ties to a new high if made US president, and even boost intelligence sharing in the fight against terrorism.

Follow our live coverage of the US election

“No relationship will be more important” and the two countries will be “best friends”, he hadf told a gathering of the Indian diaspora at an event sponsored by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) to raise money for victims of terrorism.

Started in 2015, the RHC is modelled on the powerful Republican Jewish Coalition, and was launched by Chicago businessman Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar.

Trump then had spoke glowingly of Modi -- a “great man”, whose “energetic” bureaucratic reforms he would like to emulate -- high praise from man known for disparaging rivals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dhrubo Jyoti
Dhrubo Jyoti is Deputy Executive Editor at Hindustan Times, where they help oversee the newspaper’s daily news and opinion coverage. They are part of the leadership team of the newspaper and their daily responsibilities include news selection, commissioning and editing, apart from planning and executing special projects. Apart from this, they write on national affairs at the intersection of caste and sexuality, with a focus on elections, politics and the lifeworlds of the caste marginalised. Formally trained in physics from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and Bose Institute, Kolkata, they made a switch to studying journalism from the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. Over the past decade at Hindustan Times, they have worked at the National Desk, Page 1 team, Integrated Copy Desk and Special Stories Team, before running the opinion page as views editor for two years, and then moving back as Senior Editor of News Operations. In the past 12 years, they have reported on numerous national and state elections, specialising on caste-informed coverage of major moments in India’s history, and focussing on leading investigations into government accountability and social inequities. Their narrative non-fiction work aims to put Dalit voices at the core of India’s LGBTQIA+ movements.Read More