New Delhi, Jan 23: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who spent four days in the US capital as Trump 2.0 took over the reigns of power, left for New Delhi on Wednesday after witnessing what he termed a “very confident, and upbeat administration”.
“What I saw was really a very confident and upbeat incoming administration. I mean that feeling that ‘look, we need to get things done’,” Jaishankar told a group of Indian reporters as he concluded his official visit to the city at the invitation of the US government to attend the swearing in ceremony of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.
Jaishankar, 70, was seated in the front row during the presidential inauguration at Capitol Rotunda, attended the inaugural ball, held bilateral meetings with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, attended a multilateral Quad meeting, besides interacting with top officials of the new Trump administration.
You are a partner with whom we can get things done because there is already a strong chemistry between the (US) president and the (Indian) prime minister. There is a history of working together,” Jaishankar said in response to a query.
“Given the buoyancy and confidence I saw in the last 48 hours, I feel it’s an extraordinarily active administration. And not just the last 48 hours, they were actually very active even before assuming office. Going by the energy I could experience, I can tell you in many ways that it is fully reflected on the Indian side, and we would certainly like to use it to take our relationship to a higher level,” he added.
Stating that he attended a presidential inauguration for the first time, Jaishankar said, “I was there at the Rotunda observing the swearing-in. It was obviously very impressive.”