Donald John Trump is the 45th President of the United States. India’s past experiences with US presidents show that a Republican president is generally better for us than a Democrat one. But in recent history, Indo-US relations have broadly stuck to a steady path — starting with Democrat Bill Clinton to republican Gorge W. Bush to Democrat Barack Obama.

Here’s a look at what Trump’s win will impact on India.

• Trump terms H1B visa programme as ‘unfair’, and his stated purpose is to end the programme. If Trump wins, Indian IT stocks and IT companies like TCS and Infosys are likely to be the first victims of this policy.

• Trump has said he’s in favour of retaining highly talented people in the US – as long as they are in the country legally – and has even specifically mentioned Indians while saying that smart foreign students educated in the US should be allowed to remain there.
• Trump’s promise to reduce the US corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent could result in companies like Ford, GM and Microsoft rushing back to the US, upsetting Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme.

• Trump belongs to the more conservative strand of the American thought which believes that free trade – and many of its accompaniments like immigration, outsourcing or treaties with countries – must be renegogiated on American terms.
• Trump assessment was similar to that of outgoing President Barack Obama, who once called Pakistan a “dangerously dysfunctional” country. The Modi government may find one of its biggest allies in Trump who once called India’s neighbour “probably the most dangerous country in the world”.
• Trump criticised China throughout his campaign, described it as one of the US’s top adversaries. That could make for an advantage to India. He said he would label China a currency manipulator and impose heavy tariffs if China didn’t agree to rewrite trade agreements.
• Trump’s hard stance on terrorism could also result into deeper Indo-US defence and strategic ties.