New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Tuesday that the mid-term elections are an “internal matter” of the United States (US) and underlined that India-US ties enjoy bipartisan support in Washington.
Addressing a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi Tuesday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India continues to work to further strengthen comprehensive global strategic partnership with the US.
“The mid-term elections are an internal matter of the United States. I have no specific comment on them beyond underlining that India and the United States’ relationship enjoys bipartisan support in the United States. We continue to work to further strengthen our comprehensive global strategic partnership that we share with the United States,” the MEA spokesperson said while replying to a question on the US midterm election results.
Democrats have won control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections held in the US. Their Senate gains included victories in North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Kansas and South Carolina, reversing Republican control of the chamber.
The elections were held midway through Trump’s second four-year term. The US-Israeli war with Iran began in February and has disrupted regional shipping and energy markets, while high fuel prices and household costs became major campaign issues across the United States.
Also Read : Entire range of India-Nepal ties to be discussed during Balendra Shah’s visit: MEA
US President Donald Trump has blamed the Iran war, higher petrol prices, and unpopular candidates for Republican midterm election losses, but defended the military action and said he was not looking to escalate the conflict.
In an interview with Ross Douthat for CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’, Trump acknowledged voters’ unhappiness with the war while arguing that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon justified his decision.
“They didn’t like the war. They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up, ’cause I had it down at a low,” Trump said.
He also distanced himself from the election outcome, saying his personal popularity had failed to translate into support for Republican candidates despite an extensive campaign effort.
“Well, number one, I was not on the ballot,” he said.
