Hindu Sena activists organize a hawan and chant mantras invoking the Hindu Gods to help Republican candidate Donald Trump to win the US presidential election at Jantar Mantar on May 11, 2016 in New Delhi, India.

Donald Trump may not be too kind toward foreigners or immigrants when he's on the campaign trail, but there are still groups of Chinese and Indians — both in the United States and in Asia — who support the Republican presidential candidate.

Make no mistake: The vast majority of Asian-Americans favor Hillary Clinton. According to the National Asian American Survey for Fall 2016, Clinton enjoys an almost 4-to-1 advantage over Trump — 55 percent vs. 14 percent — with about 1 in 5 still undecided.

Indian Americans tend to lean left, fitting the larger trend among Americans of Asian descent. But a growing number of Hindu Indians support Trump because of his anti-Muslim rhetoric — and Trump has capitalized on this.



In a speech in New Jersey, Trump pledged that he would support Indians and crack down against Muslim extremism. Those strong words from Trump resonated with many Indians, who have seen their country repeatedly struck by terrorism, the most significant example being the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 which killed more than 200 people.



A vocal, right-wing political group, Hindu Sena, called Trump a "hero," due in part to his ability to "save humanity from Islam and Islamic terror."



Trump's commentary also comes at a time when tensions have been elevated between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir.



"Most U.S. leaders in the past have had a pro-Pakistan tilt … so Trump's pro-India comments have been cheered by the [Indian] community," said Professor Ravi Ahuja at DeSales University in Pennsylvania.



Aside from his aggressive words on terrorism, Trump's brand also has equity in India.



"India probably has the highest number of Trump-branded real estate projects outside of North America," said a spokesperson for Tribeca, a Mumbai-based developer that acts as Trump's partner in India. "Trump has five ongoing deals in India with a gross development value of about $1.5 billion" with "more projects likely to be launched in 2017."