Donald Trump’s pro-India, anti-China-Pak official all set for top post

US President-elect Donald Trump nominated Senator Marco Rubio of Florida to be the United States secretary of state, equivalent of an external affairs minister, in November after winning the presidential election. He described Rubio as a “fearless warrior” and “a true friend to our allies”. At his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rubio was warmly welcomed by Republican as well as Democrat senators, a sign his confirmation would be the easiest among all the top Trump nominees as he has bipartisan support.

Rubio has served for years on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees in the Senate, and is known for his expertise in this domain. “I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as secretary of state,” Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen said in her opening remarks. Rubio is known for his hawkish views on China, Cuba, Iran and and Venezuela. In the past, he has shown a strong tilt towards India which goes with his anti-China and anti-Pakistan stance.

China in the Indo-Pacific region. “In order to strengthen our partnership with India, it’s essential we increase our strategic relationship with New Delhi. Introduced a bill to best support India as they continue to face aggression from Communist China,” Marco Rubio said on X. The most notable part of the Rubio’s Bill was the proposal to “treat India on par with US allies such as Japan, Israel, South Korea, and Nato allies in terms of technology transfers and support India’s/

“Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region, all while it seeks to impede the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners. It’s crucial for the US to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics. India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone,” Rubio said after introducing the bill. Although the bill was unlikely to make significant progress in the Congress due to the short timeline.