The changing of the guard in Washington could strengthen ties between US and India (File)
Some parts of Asia are watching anxiously as Donald Trump prepares to take up the presidency, but for India, the changing of the guard in Washington could strengthen ties.
During a brutal election campaign, where Trump's rhetoric on foreign partners was overwhelmingly negative, he was largely positive about India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When he courted Indian-American voters at a rally in New Jersey in mid-October, he said, "There won't be any relationship more important to us." He praised PM Modi as a "great man" for championing bureaucratic reforms and economic growth.
There are other hints that Trump is well-disposed toward India.
He has done a lot of business in India. A Washington Post analysis of Trump's pre-election financial disclosure found that of his 111 international business deals, the highest number - 16 - were in India. He stirred controversy last week over potential conflicts of interest by meeting with three Indian business partners who are building a Trump-branded luxury apartment complex in Pune.
On Wednesday he selected South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian Sikh immigrants, to be US ambassador to the United Nations - the first woman tapped for a Cabinet-level post in his administration.
Haley has no foreign policy experience.
Neelam Deo, who heads the Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House, said India would also welcome it if Trump builds a working relationship with Russia in fighting the Islamic State group.
But Deo predicted US-India friction if Trump restricts non-immigrant visas for Indians to try to protect American workers. She said that 60 percent of India's information technology experts who work abroad go to the US.
Biswajit Dhar, an economics professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said that how Trump approaches immigration is a major concern in India and tough action "is going to rattle quite a lot here."
US-India relations have advanced under President Barack Obama, particularly since PM Modi's election in 2014. When PM Modi addressed Congress this June, he described the US as an "indispensable partner" and said together they could anchor stability and prosperity from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.
Staunch US allies like Japan and South Korea, which host American forces and depend on US nuclear deterrence, have been unnerved by Trump's call for nations to shoulder more of the burden for security in Asia.
But that is less of a concern for India, which is not a formal ally of the US. It has expanded its military cooperation with Washington and purchased American hardware as it modernizes its armed forces. But it prizes having an independent foreign policy.
"India's interest in taking on a larger role fits in with Mr Trump's view of US friends and partners doing more in their own regions," said C Raja Mohan, director of the Carnegie India think tank.