On Nov 6, a panel discussion was held at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi where the topic of conversation was the US elections. Interestingly, the results were just coming in and this was likely the first panel in the city to discuss the topic as Donald Trump swept back to a power, for a second non-consecutive term.

The panel featured Arun Singh who served as India’s envoy to the United States, Prof Swaran Singh who heads the Centre for International Politics, Organisation & Disarmament, SIS (JNU), Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Head of India Practice, Eurasia Group, Simran Sodhi, Executive Editor NRIFOCUS.COM. The discussion was moderated by Heena Goswami, editorial consultant with IGPP.

The panel discussion was a joint collaboration between nrifocus.com and Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics (IGPP) which is a New Delhi based think-tank.

The two-hour session was attended by diplomats from various embassies, academics and policy makers. The panelists discussed the various issues that had dominated the US elections and the reasons why Trump was able to defeat Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee. There was also a discussion on the way forward for India and how India-US ties are likely to shape up under a second Trump presidency.

The audience later asked questions of the panelists leading to a further engaging conversation on the various facets of tl India-US ties. The role of Elon Musk, Hollywood celebrities and the personal chemistry between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President-elect Donald Trump also came up for discussion. All in all, it was a thought-provoking and engaging panel discussion. – editor@nrifocus.com