Trump, Modi & Tech

When the BJP got 240 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a lot of people thought that this would bring in a fundamental change. However, nothing of the sort happened and soon it was business as usual. Especially after the thumping BJP wins in the Haryana and Maharashtra elections. In the US on the other hand, a change of guard is expected, and things could be very different this time around.

Donald Trump is a man on a mission this time, returning to the US Presidency. He will look to stamp his legacy and work on his America First policy. That’s not necessarily bad news for all countries. It depends on the bilateral deals that are signed. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi share a good equation. Trump is looking to take on China and antagonizing India will not be a good strategy. India may want to get a bite of the global supply chin system at the cost of China. Already Apple is manufacturing big time in India in the post-pandemic era. It will be interesting how “America First” and “Make in India” will interact with each other.

Trump will want to make the dollar stronger against the Rupee. While that will hit imports, it will be a good thing for IT services exports, which is a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars for India. While Trump may succeed in bringing certain manufacturing and services back to America, he won’t be able to do that when it comes to Indian IT services. But Trump may look to tighten immigration and reduce H-1B visas. How much Indian hopefuls will be affected remains to be seen.

Israel is a tech expert, especially when it comes to cybersecurity. Expect there to be a more exchange of tech between the three countries. The same will happen when it comes to key defence tech. Last time around Trump had lifted the Obama regime restrictions on unmanned systems and drones. When it comes to space tech, there are a lot of collaborations between NASA and ISRO. This will receive a boost. The groundwork has been done for scientific collaboration. In 2023 the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) looked at AI, quantum computing and semiconductors. There was a collaboration between the IIT Council and Association of American Universities.

The American Indian card

A lot of American Indians will be in the Trump administration: Vivek Ramaswamy, Kash Patel, Jay Bhattacharya, Sriram Krishnan, Harmeet Dhillon. There’s the Hindu Tulsi Gabbard who is pro-India. Mike Waltz was head of the India Caucus and is no fan of China. 

The time is right to take Indo-US tech ties to the next level.