SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — The hotline established in 2015 between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to exist in the next White House administration under Donald Trump.
“I’d be surprised if that was something that was discontinued,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said this week. “Typically, those kinds of arrangements are intended to persist beyond just one presidential term.”
The direct line of communication between the White House and India was established in 2015 during Obama’s visit to the country, when he attended the Republic Day parade as the event’s chief guest. Prime Minister Modi described the effort as part of India’s desire to further bolster their relationship with their neighbors to the west. The hotline between the two offices has been used sparingly, but the conversations have been productive, with at least one lasting longer than one hour in duration, according to the U.S. ambassador to India.
India are only the fourth country, after Russia, Britain and China, to have a direct line into the White House. For India, this is the nation’s first hotline that can reach a head of state.
In 2004, India and Pakistan agreed to establish similar lines of communication at the foreign secretary level, and in 2010, New Delhi announced a partnership with China which established a similar hotline in Beijing at the foreign ministry level.
