Trend of rising US-Indo ties expected to continue under Trump: Mike Hankey

Consul General of the United States in Mumbai, Mike Hankey, said on Friday that the trend of ever-increasing ties between India and America is expected to continue during the tenure of Donald Trump's new government. 

Responding to a question in Goa, Hankey said that over the last two decades, there has been a trend across administrations – George Bush, Barack Obama, Trump (in his first term) or Joe Biden – of increasing ties. 

The number of students from India in the US has gone up, while the number of technology collaborations has increased and educational partnerships with institutions have grown, the Consul General said. 

“So my expectation (from the next government) would be where we see continued interest on both sides. You are going to see continued growth in terms of specific policies and administration,” he said. 

Referring to President-elect Trump, he said, “We are going to have a change in administration on January 20 (2025). The new government coming in and I am going to let the new administration talk about its own policies and programmes at that point.” The Mumbai-based top US diplomat said that for now, they have President Joe Biden, whom he called a “very active” leader. “The entire cabinet is fully empowered and fully in place until the transition,” he added. 

About ties with India, Hankey said the number of Indian students going to the US has gone up since 2008. 

He said that as per an annual report about the number of students going to the US, India is in the number one position among all the countries in the world. 

The Consul General said, “330,000 Indian students went to the US last year.” US consulates and the embassy in India have processed more than one million visa applications from Indians, he said. 

Hankey said the US is putting energy into new ways to process Indian visas. The authorities are doing some pioneering new methods of managing this with remote processing, he said. 

Hankey also talked of interview waivers for some people renewing their US visas. 

“Each one of these methods is intended to speed up and make that process as efficient as possible…,” Hankey said.