‘I Would Also Like To See Our Economies Come Together’

American Democrat Robby Wells  will be contesting the US Presidential polls in 2020. Ruhail Amin spoke to him during his recent visit to Mumbai, where he shared his vision for the United States. Wells remained reticent about the Trump Administration’s flip-flops on foreign policy and climate change, but spoke enthusiastically about the need for new rules of engagement in the Middle East and Afghanistan and of the need for a stronger economic partnership with India.

Edited excerpts:

How do you view the current political situation in the United States?
When you look at our state of politics right now, it’s almost like a constant gridlock. We have the Democrats versus the Republicans, and whatever the Republicans put in place the Democrats are not going to support and vice versa.

You have a Republican Congress now that has a majority of  Republicans and the same thing in the Senate. You have a Republican President and they have tried their best to undo a lot of policies that our former President, Obama, put in place — such as the Paris Climate Agreement.

In fact, that is one agreement that we are going to get back in the event that I am elected President of the United States. But I don’t see things changing too much until we elect someone who can actually see the beauty in both wings. That is where I come into play.

I do see some really good things in the Left wing and some good things in the Right wing.

My plan is actually to take those issues on both sides and build it into my platform so that I may represent all the people, and it’s about time we do that.

What are your views on President Trump’s tenure so far and the policies he has adopted?
When it comes to President Trump, I would say this — Mr Trump is going to be my opponent in 2020. I’m more concerned about getting the message out about my platform of  bringing people together. My platform is about building bridges.

So, I am not really concerned about what Mr Trump is doing at the moment. The media takes care of that for me by themselves.

The recent incidents in the US have  revived the debate on the need to address the rampant gun culture. What kind of solutions do you have to offer?
We have the second amendment and it basically says that every law abiding competent American has the right to protect the family and to protect property.

The problem that we have is when they take it too far. We need to do a better job of getting these automatic rifles off the street.
 
We have to tighten the loopholes for some of these weapons that you see out there that have been altered to become automatic weapons.

That should not occur. That should not be allowed in the United States.

President Trump recently announced a new immigration policy favouring financially stable English speakers. How do you see this shift in policy?
I believe that America is a land of opportunities.  It’s the beacon of freedom. Almost everybody in the US came from other countries or their ancestors came from another country.

We do have a problem with illegal immigrants. My plan is called ‘Service for Freedom’. Anyone who wants to come into the US, we would let them come in.

Right now we have illegal immigrants who cannot afford to go through the process financially to gain their citizenship.

My plan would let them do that by serving the country whether at the local, state or federal level and even in some form in the military.

If they serve for four years, learn the English language and the history of our country and earn a wage that is taxable for four years — at the end of that four-year cycle, they have earned their citizenship.

How do you see Indo-US relations shaping up in the days ahead?
India and the US are two of the largest democracies in the world. Between the USA and India we have almost two billion people.  

So, if we can get all of these people working together and get our governments to build a stronger partnership economically, we will see an economy that is going to flourish and everyone will have a true chance of prosperity.

I would also like to see our economies come together with a stronger partnership than we see now.

US foreign policy has often come under criticism especially in regions like the Middle East and Afghanistan and in its interface with Russia.

What kind of corrective measures would you suggest?
We have been in constant conflict in the Middle East since 1991 because of our need for oil and the petroleum industry that comes from the Middle East.  

My plan is to achieve 100 per cent sustainable energy independence and that is going to be my top priority. I’m very focused about it as by doing that we would not need to have any deals in the Middle East that cause those conflicts.

As far as the Russian interference is concerned, it bothered me deeply because it did not just affect the candidate alone; it affected literally 300 million Americans.

This is not it. The Russian interference also affected the whole population whether they were involved in politics or not.  

I sincerely hope there are lawmakers  are taking appropriate steps to ensure that it never happens again. Under my administration we are going to continue to do our due diligence to make sure that this never happens again.