To compete with China, put India-US relations back on track: Nikki Haley
As the bilateral relations between India and US strain due to higher duties on Indian goods, Nikki Haley stressed that India should be treated as a "prized, free and democratic" partner
The US's priority should be to reverse the "downward spiral" in ties with India, Republican leader Nikki Haley has said, stressing that New Delhi must be treated as a "prized free and democratic" partner.
The Indian-American leader's remarks in an opinion piece in the Newsweek magazine on Wednesday, August 20, came amid a strain in ties between the two countries following President Donald Trump slapping 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods.
'Most urgent priority'
Haley said that a few objectives are more critical to the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals of “outcompeting China and achieving peace through strength” than putting "US-India relations back on track".
For this, she said, "India must be treated like the prized free and democratic partner that it is — not an adversary like China", which, she said, has so far avoided sanctions for its Russian oil purchases, despite being one of Moscow's "largest customers".
Also read: Trump: Tariffs on India over Russian oil prompted Moscow to seek talks with US
Trump has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.
Haley said if this disparity does not demand a closer look at US-India relations, the "realities of hard power should".
India's importance for US
"Scuttling 25 years of momentum with the only country that can serve as a counterweight to Chinese dominance in Asia would be a strategic disaster," she said.
Haley stressed that India is vital to US efforts to shift supply chains from China, with the capacity to produce at scale in areas like textiles, phones, and solar panels.
Also read: Trump extends US' trade truce with China by 90 days
She added that New Delhi's expanding defence ties with the US and allies make it a "crucial asset to the free world's security", and its growing role in West Asia, and strategic location along China’s trade routes make it a key security and economic partner.
Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, was the US Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump’s first presidential term, and became the first Indian-American appointed to a cabinet-level post in the US administration.
She officially announced her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election in 2013. However, she withdrew from the race in March last year.
(With agency inputs)