SIMI VALLEY, California — Republican presidential contender Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana told Breitbart News on Wednesday evening in the spin room of the GOP Debate that he sees the importance of fostering a stronger relationship between the United States and India, particularly as China’s influence grows in the region.
“I think India and other countries in the region are looking for American leadership. Some are traditional allies like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Others are non-aligned countries like India and Vietnam,” Jindal said, shortly after he participated in the first GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, which was being moderated by CNN.
Jindal said the desire on behalf of Asian nations to form a stronger western alliance is because they–and India specifically–“are looking to hedge against China.”
Referring to Barack Obama’s so far unfulfilled rhetoric about an Asia pivot, Jindal said “this president talks about pivoting towards Asia and didn’t actually do it. I think strong American leadership would cause those countries, including India to align with us economically, culturally, militarily, diplomatically. And I think that would benefit us and put constraints on China’s ambitions. So absolutely I think there’s an opportunity there.”
This past June, Jindal hit back at attacks from the mainstream media that questioned his ethnicity, which is Indian, with an article published in the Washington Post entitled “From Piyush to Bobby, How does Jindal feel about his family’s past?” The Post quoted a professor who reportedly said “[t]here’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal.”
The governor shot back at the time with a tweet on his official account mocking the claim with a campaign shirt that reads: “Tanned. Rested. Ready. Jindal 2016.”
@Siriusjay BTW, even if u disagree w/ him, Jindal is kinda amazing. First generation American of Indian descent becomes guv of Louisiana!!!
— ryuryu2949 (@ryuryu2949) September 14, 2015
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