Foreign Secy met 'very senior levels' of Trump transition team: MEA

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup on Thursday confirmed that Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar had recently interacted with very senior levels of the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump transition team, besides meeting the members of the current administration and the US Congress.

"As I informed you earlier, the Foreign Secretary did visit the United States as part of regular bilateral consultations. He met with the members of the current administration and had meetings in the US Congress. It is also my understanding that Foreign Secretary interacted with very senior levels of the Trump transition team.

Welcoming the appointment of South Carolina Governor Nikki Hailey, an Indian American, as United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Swarup said Governor Hailey is well known and recognised as a very strong and committed advocate of close India-US ties.

"We know Governor Hailey well and recognise her as a very strong and committed advocate of close India-US ties. She had called on Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the United States and had also recently visited India. We warmly welcome her appointment as PR to UN," said Swarup during his weekly media briefing.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Haley as the US ambassador to the United Nations. Though the official announcement is yet to come, two sources familiar with Trump's decision have confirmed the same, reports the Washington Post.

Haley, an Indian-American, was an outspoken Trump critic throughout much of the presidential race. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first female and first non-white - Cabinet-level official in the Trump administration.

She is the second Asian-American to serve as a U.S. Governor.

Despite her misgivings about Trump, she met with the President-elect last week at Trump Tower. Haley later said that they had a "very nice" conversation.