Midterm election results wouldn’t change India’s relationship with US: S Jaishankar at HTLS 2026

The midterm elections in the United States that delivered a setback for President Donald Trump and led to a victory of the Democrats in the US Congress would not change India’s relationship with the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the HT Leadership Summit 2026. (HT Photo)Speaking with R Sukumar, Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan Times, at the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Jaishankar said that there is consensus between India and the US on defence and security cooperation and other matters that are “not partisan" in the United States.

“In some cases, we will be focusing on the administration, for example, trade negotiations because it is their jurisdiction. To some extent, it would matter. To some extent, we would be continuing what we are doing,” he said.

In the recently held midterm elections, the Democrats seized both the House of Representatives and the Senate from the Republicans. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats won 256 seats, while the Republicans won 169 seats, Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, the Democrats won 55 seats in the US Senate, leaving Republicans with 44 seats. The turbulence the world is going through could last a few years, maybe till the end of the decade, he said, adding that India's compass for navigating these choppy waters is the "lens of national interest".

He touched upon the conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine, and also spoke of the crises parts of Africa are facing. Jaishankar spoke of a readjustment of the world order that includes the rise of new powers. The rivalry between the United States and China, he said, was one of the factors behind the ongoing frictions, but not the only one.

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