Nikki Haley woos Indian Americans: 'PM Modi and Trump get along so well'

By Team Newsable | First Published Oct 25, 2020, 8:03 AM IST

Nikki Haley, the first Cabinet-ranking Indian-American in any presidential administration, reminded the community of how well Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi got along.

Nikki Haley, former US Ambassador to the UN, has said that President Donald Trump's foreign policy had ensured that the billion dollar military aid to Pakistan was stopped as it was harbouring terrorists who were trying to kill American soldiers.

Speaking during an event organised by the Indian Voices for Trump in the battleground state of Philadelphia, the two-term governor of South Carolina praised Trump's foreign policies.

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Haley was quoted by news agency ANI: "We were giving a billion dollars in military aid to Pakistan, who was turning around harbouring terrorists, that are trying to kill our American soldiers. We do not give that billion dollars. Now, there's actually a method that the President using, which looks, we should not just use a UN vote to decide who to get funding, but it should be one of the things we look at. And we need to be smart about how we do foreign policy."

The Trump administration had suspended $300 million in funding to Pakistan in 2018 after Islamabad failed to take action against terrorists.

"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" Trump had tweeted in January 2018.

Haley, the first Cabinet-ranking Indian-American in any presidential administration, reminded the community of how well Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi got along.

"The relationship with India has never been stronger ever. India is the largest democracy that shares our values. And President Trump and Prime Minister Modi get along so well. But now we are actually partnering with them on defense and trade and other areas,” she said, adding "And with COVID-19 coming from China. There's more of a coalition that the United States is bringing in India, along with Australia and Japan. And so, really, the foreign policy of President Trump has been gangbusters over any other president that we have had in decades, and that affects every one of us from national security."

Seeking to reach out to the Indian American community on behalf of Donald Trump, Hely said: "The Indian American community contributes a lot to the United States, and it is the best country in the world but we have to protect them. So we need the American community to remember that President Trump was given us the lowest unemployment has allowed for businesses to thrive."

"It has really allowed us the opportunity to excel in every field and every direction we need to go and continue to support him so that we can continue doing that for our children, our grandchildren right," she told news agency ANI.

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