Two wars likely big factor behind Trump's win: Former diplomat

With Donald Trump elected president of the US, riding a historic political comeback, a former Indian diplomat on Wednesday said the election outcome is also a verdict on incumbent President Joe Biden. India’s former ambassador to Italy, KP Fabian, suggested that Trump would like the “Ukraine war to be over”.

“Though Kamala Harris was the candidate, it was also a verdict on (Joe) Biden. Because, she was the Vice-President and Biden nominated her. So, partly, she was carrying the Biden burden in respect of the economy.” And, with prices going up, especially of fuel, and for Americans who roam all round in their cars, this is very important, Fabian said.

Many US voters counted immigration, border security, gun control laws, reproductive rights and foreign policy as factors weighing on their minds in this election.

Fabian said the Russia-Ukraine war and the West Asia conflict may have been a factor that might have influenced voters’ decisions. “Ukraine war, you may say majority of Americans support Ukraine, but it doesn’t follow that Americans want a big war. And, that America should be sending so much money by way of military aid and economic aid,” he said.

Military aid doesn’t matter because the money remains in America, selling weapons. But in economic aid, the money goes, the former diplomat said. “And... the war in West Asia, Biden made a mistake...,” Fabian argued.

Venu Rajamony, who served as India’s envoy to the Netherlands from 2017 to 2020, said Trump has a number of foreign policy issues on his table, even more important is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and similarly what is happening in Gaza. When asked, if the Ukraine war will be high on Trump’s agenda, he said, “absolutely”.

“In fact, he himself had said that it is high on his agenda, and knowing the kind of person he is, he may not even wait till the formal inauguration, so he may make statements, make moves which indicates or reflects his thinking on how the problem should be solved. So, let us wait and watch,” he added.

On Trump’s win and the West Asia conflict, Rajamony said, people who support him have been big backers of Israel, so whether it emboldens Israel to continue and increase the intensity of the war, whether Israel pulls back and offers a ceasefire in return from American support to sort of restructure the architecture of the Middle East in Israel’s favour, “all this has to be seen, we have to wait and see what approaches President Trump adopts”.