Trump Sees Commitment to Religious Freedom in India as Riots Break Out

New York Times logoThe president stressed the strength of his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in meetings long on symbolism and short on concrete agreements.

NEW DELHI — In the lush garden of Hyderabad House, President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated their friendship and talked of a modern, diverse and unified India. Across town, an explosion of anger over Mr. Modi’s sectarian policies set a neighborhood on edge, leaving a trail of dead bodies and a widening religious rift.

The two sides of New Delhi on display on Tuesday underscored the disparity between the hopes of Mr. Trump’s trip and the tensions outside the fortified environs of world leaders. Just miles from the pomp of a presidential visit, a mob of hot-tempered Hindu men wielding iron bars hunted their Muslim neighbors on streets littered with scraps of bricks.

As he completed his two-day stay, Mr. Trump focused only on the positive, offering validation of Mr. Modi as a champion of religious liberty even as the Indian government has adopted Hindu-first policies targeting Muslims. The president publicly accepted Mr. Modi’s word that he treats the 1.3 billion people in his diverse country fairly without regard to faith and made no mention of the months of protests by those who think otherwise. Continue reading.

Trump’s India visit opens with more symbolism than substance as he celebrates ties with a fellow nationalist

Washington Post logoNEW DELHI — President Trump began a whirlwind visit to the world’s largest democracy Monday by praising what he called India’s unity and tolerance, but offering no public critique of recent actions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that have been widely condemned as discriminatory.

Amid pageantry and crowds that were enormous but apparently shy of the president’s predictions, Trump and Modi celebrated their warm personal bond and shared nationalist political philosophy while talking up economic and military cooperation that is a bulwark to China. Trump said a long-promised trade deal with India is in sight, but he gave no date for its completion.

“India is a country that proudly embraces freedom, liberty, individual rights, the rule of law and the dignity of every human being,” Trump said. “Your nation has always been admired around the Earth as the place where millions upon millions of Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs and Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Jews worship side by side in harmony; where you speak more than 100 languages and come from more than two dozen states, yet you have always stood strong as one great Indian nation. Your unity is an inspiration to the world.” Continue reading.

Trump Blunders His Way Into The Kashmir Crisis

He Helps Heat Up the Long-Simmering India-Pakistan Dispute Over Shangri-La

While Americans parse conspiracy theories about billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s demise in a Manhattan jail cell, Trump’s sinister role in helping light a fuse in one of the most dangerous areas of the world has gone virtually unnoticed – by the U.S. that is.

India’s abrupt takeover on Aug. 5 of the Muslim-majority Kashmir state was a double whammy for the seven million inhabitants of this once-storied Himalayan kingdom nominally ruled by India and bordered by arch-enemy Pakistan as well as China, both of which claim territory in the region. All three countries have nuclear weapons.

Often referred to as “India’s Switzerland” for its striking mountains, lakes and valleys, Kashmir inspired the fabled Shangri-La in the 1933 novel, “Lost Horizon.”

View the complete August 20 article by Dana Kennedy on the DC Report website here.

House Democrats apologize to India ambassador for Trump’s ‘amateurish’ claim about Kashmir

Trump claimed Indian prime minister asked him to mediate Kashmir dispute between his country and Pakistan

Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee spoke with India’s ambassador to the U.S., Harsh Shringla, on Monday to apologize for President Donald Trump’s claim that he was asked by the Indian prime minister to mediate the Kashmir territorial conflict between his country and Pakistan.

“Everyone who knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation [regarding] Kashmir,” Rep. Brad Sherman of California tweeted Monday. “Everyone knows [Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi] would never suggest such a thing. Trump’s statement is amateurish and delusional. And embarrassing,” he wrote.

Sherman, a Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote in a subsequent tweet that he had apologized to the Indian ambassador for Trump’s remarks.

View the complete July 23 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Donald Trump Jr. Pushed ‘Blatantly Illegal’ Project In India, Former Official Says — ‘Trump, Inc.’ Podcast

The following article by Eric Umansky of ProPublica and Andrea Bernstein of WNYC was posted on the ProPublica website March 21, 2018:

A Trump project in Mumbai had its permits revoked after investigators found “significant irregularities.” Then Trump Jr. travelled to India to get the decision overruled.

Donald Trump Jr. stands in front of Trump Towers Pune in Pune, India. The Trumps’ first India project, in Mumbai, was halted in early 2012 after investigators found significant “irregularities.” Credit: STR via AP Photo)

Last month, Donald Trump Jr. visited India to tout new Trump properties. Full page ads in India’s top papers announced, “Trump has arrived. Have you?”

It wasn’t Trump Jr.’s first trip to India. “I’ve been coming to India for over a decade,” he said during his visit last month. “There’s an entrepreneurial spirit here … it needs no further explanation.”

This week on “Trump, Inc.,” we’re looking at the Trumps’ yearslong work in India, where corruption in the real estate industry is endemic. Continue reading “Donald Trump Jr. Pushed ‘Blatantly Illegal’ Project In India, Former Official Says — ‘Trump, Inc.’ Podcast”

Donald Trump Jr. comes to India to hawk apartments, and quickly edges into politics

The following article by Shashank Bengali was posted on the Los Angeles Times website February 20, 2018:

President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. meets Feb. 20 with his company’s Indian partners in New Delhi. Credit: Manish Swarup, Associated Press

Landing in New Delhi on Tuesday to begin what was billed as an unofficial tour to promote his family’s real estate interests in India, Donald Trump Jr. wasted little time before veering into international politics.

Some of Trump Jr.’s first statements in India could be seen as crossing the line into geopolitics, showing how difficult it is to focus solely on business when you’re the son of the U.S. president and you haven’t been exactly shy about defending his political views, statements and policies while running his business empire. Continue reading “Donald Trump Jr. comes to India to hawk apartments, and quickly edges into politics”