Foreign Secretary met Trump transition team members: MEA

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar met members of US President-elect Donald Trump's transition team during a visit to Washington last week, a senior official here confirmed on Thursday.

"Foreign Secretary did visit the United States as part of regular bilateral consultations," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said during his weekly media briefing here.

"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," he said.

The spokesperson also welcomed Trump's naming of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a person of Indian origin, as the new US Permanent Representative to the UN.

"We know Governor Haley well and recognise her as a very strong and committed advocate of close India-US ties," he said.

"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."

Asked about the role of three-million Indian diaspora in bolstering India-US ties under the new Trump administration, Swarup said that the diaspora in the US constituted "a very vital, a very living bridge" between the two countries.

"Their contribution to the progress and well-being of the United States has been very well appreciated," he said.

"It is a model immigrant community as far as we are concerned and this has been appreciated across the board by all sections of the United States population," he added.

--IANS

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