President Trump and Asia
MUMBAI, 18 January 2017- Asia Society India Centre hosted Kevin Rudd; President, Asia Society Policy Institute and Former Prime Minister, Australia and Aisha De Sequeira; Co Country Head and Head Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley India for a conversation as they discussed what the Trump Presidency might mean for Asia.
Kevin Rudd started the conversation with seven convictions that are centered around President Trump’s administration. Firstly, Donald Trump is not a populist he is a nationalist, someone we haven’t seen Theodore Roosevelt administration. Secondly Donald Trump presidency will focus on domestic policies- Make America Great Again- compared to foreign policies as it has been in the past; that is the prism in which we should view his presidency. Thirdly, he has reservation about China and how American’s relationship has been defined in the past. Trump would like to focus his presidency on overcoming the global threat Islamic terrorists pose, and lastly his presidency will be top down. Going forward American’s biggest threat is North Korean’s nuclear programme which President Trump must pay adequate attention to, along with country’s national security.
Rudd went on to say Prime Minster of Japan Shinzo Abe was politically corrected in going to meet President Trump soon after he won the elections given Japan’s vested interest in the United States- the nuclear programme with North Korea, and the security threat China poses. “Prime Minster Shinzo Abe has accepted Donald Trump’s presidency, and so should America, and the rest of the world,” asserted Rudd.
As reported by Maneka Chotirmall, Programme Assistant, Asia Society India Centre
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