Davos 2025: US sees India as a trusted partner, says Ashwini Vaishnaw after Trump’s inauguration

Minister for electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw at the World Economic Summit in Davos on January 23

Days after Donald Trump was sworn in as the President of the United States, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on January 23 said that the US viewed India as a trusted partner, and emphasised that the partnership would yield mutual benefits for both nations.

"If you look at India-US relationships, the biggest factor in our relationship is the factor of trust. The trust which has developed because of our Prime Minister's economic thinking and his foreign policy," said Vaishnaw to Moneycontrol in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Vaishnaw said this in response to a question on how India perceives Trump's second stint as the president. After his inauguration, Trump signed a host of executive orders that walk back Biden-era policies and fulfill his campaign promises.

Vaishnaw said, "That trust is today a very big factor. The talent that we have is the second big factor. The US today looks at India as a trusted partner in a world which is very uncertain, which is full of geopolitical issues.

"In that world where India is seen as a trusted partner, I think the relationship going forward which is built upon this trust will be win-win for both," he added.

Days before the end of his tenure as the president, Joe Biden signed an executive order restricting the export of AI technologies. In the three-tier system, India was in the second tier where exports of such items from US would have been subjected to approvals beyond a certain threshold.

After Trump came into power, he revoked Biden's order. On January 22, he unveiled the $500 billion Stargate Project which aims to develop AI infrastructure capabilities in the USA. The domestic industry in India is already eyeing opportunities in the program.