U.S. President Donald Trump said he understands tariffs “better” than anybody. File. 
| Photo Credit: AP

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions are destroying the partnership with India, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna and two former top officials have said, cautioning that the American leader’s “ego” cannot be allowed to destroy a “strategic relationship” with the world’s largest democracy.

Mr. Khanna, the co-chair of the U.S.-India caucus, said he is sounding the “five-alarm fire” on what Mr. Trump is doing to “destroy” the U.S.-India partnership.

Mr. Khanna accused Mr. Trump of “undermining 30 years of bipartisan work to strengthen the US-India alliance,” citing the imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25% levy on New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.

Mr. Khanna added that Mr. Trump’s policies are “driving India towards China and Russia,” a trend that poses a strategic setback for the US.

Mr. Khanna said the levies imposed on India are higher than any other country, except Brazil, and are even higher tariffs than the duties on China, which is the largest purchaser of Russian energy.

“It is hurting India’s exports of leather and textiles into the United States, and it’s hurting American manufacturers and our exports into India. It is also driving India towards China and towards Russia,” he said.

Peace Prize issue

Pointing to the root cause of the issue, Mr. Khanna said the reasons are “very simple”.

Mr. Khanna explained that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to nominate Mr. Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, while Pakistan did, has led to strained relations.

He referenced a statement from Islamabad, which credited Mr. Trump for bringing an end to the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May this year. India, however, maintained that the border dispute with Pakistan is an internal matter and refused to give Mr. Trump any credit.

“We can’t allow the ego of Donald Trump to destroy a strategic relationship with India that is key to ensuring that America leads and not China,” Mr. Khanna said.

“To all those Indian-Americans who voted for Donald Trump, I’m asking you, where are you today while he destroys this relationship?” he asked.

Putin, Modi, Xi meeting

Mr. Khanna’s comments come as Prime Minister Modi had attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China’s Tianjin city, where he held bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The display of camaraderie between the three leaders was a stark reminder of India’s growing ties with both Russia and China.

Mr. Trump’s words and actions targeting India over tariffs and its purchases of Russian oil are being strongly criticised by other officials across the US, as well, including from those who have served in the previous White House administrations.

Former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Monday said Mr. Trump has “thrown the relationship with India over the side” because of Pakistan’s willingness to engage in business deals with his family.

He described the move as a “huge strategic harm” to America.

“On a bipartisan basis, going back decades, the United States has worked to build its relationship with India, the world’s largest democracy, a country that we should be aligned with on technology and talent and economics, so many other issues, and aligned with in dealing with the strategic threat from China,” Sullivan said in response to a question on the MeidasTouch network.

He noted that the U.S. had made significant progress in strengthening ties with India.

Personal business with Pakistan

However, that relationship, he claimed, has been undermined by Mr. Trump’s preference for personal business interests with Pakistan.

“In no small part, I think because of Pakistan’s willingness to do business deals with the Trump family, Mr. Trump has thrown the India relationship over the side,” Mr. Sullivan said, describing it as a “huge strategic harm” because a “strong US-India relationship serves our interests”.

Mr. Sullivan, who served as National Security Advisor under President Joe Biden, also voiced alarm that such actions raise concern among other countries around the world over their ties with the U.S. under the Trump administration.

He said the current situation with India not only has direct strategic consequences but also “reverberating impact” on all US relationships and partnerships worldwide.

Decades of efforts ‘shredded’

John Bolton, who served as NSA in the first Trump administration, has said President Trump has “shredded” decades of Western efforts to wean India away from Russia and caution it on the threat posed by China.

“The West has spent decades trying to wean India away from its Cold War attachment to Soviet Union Russia, and cautioning India on the threat posed by China. Donald Trump has shredded decades of efforts with his disastrous tariff policy,” Mr. Bolton said in a post on X Monday.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr. Bolton elaborated that the West, and the US in particular, has spent decades trying to wean India away from Russia, buying sophisticated weapons from them and cautioning New Delhi on the danger posed by China. This was symbolised by the Quad grouping of Japan, India, Australia and the United States.

“A lot of effort (was made) to make India more amenable to cooperation with these countries. Donald Trump, in the past weeks, has essentially upended that and, for a variety of reasons, now sent India back toward Russia, to grow closer to China, and just shredding these decades of efforts,” he said.

The former NSA stressed that while the situation can be repaired, it would require significant work, which he does not see happening in the near term.

Mr. Bolton said there are a series of things that Trump has done that have offended the Indians on the basic tariffs that Trump wants, which he said at a macro level economic phenomena are a “disaster” for everybody.

He said India believed it was close to resolving disputes with Washington, only to be hit with 25% duties. Mr. Trump then carried through on his threat to impose secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian oil and gas.

“Trump whacked India with another 25%, (but) did not tariff Russia, did not tariff China, the largest purchaser of Russian oil and gas.

“And then, to make it worse, when the recent escalation between Pakistan and India over a terrorist attack in Kashmir occurred… Trump took full credit for it as one of the six or seven wars that he stopped this year to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, which has made India incandescent,” said Bolton, a long-time critic of Mr. Trump.

Since May 10, when Mr. Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 40 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in Parliament that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has categorically said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

Republican leader Nikki Haley. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

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Washington:

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to host his Indian counterpart, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, at the Pentagon on August 23.

“The relationship with India remains one of great importance. It’s one of great importance to the Indo-Pacific as well. There’s a visit coming up and when we have more to share on that, we certainly will,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters at a news conference here on Thursday.

During the meet, the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, as well as ways to strengthen ties between the world’s two largest democracies.

Sabrina Singh did not share details of the meeting, saying “I’m not going to get ahead of the secretary or any meetings that he’s doing”.

“As always, we will have a readout of his meeting. I just don’t have more to provide on the front end, but we will on the back end, as we always do,” she added.

The Pentagon official underscored that India and the US share a very strong military relationship.

“The (defense) secretary, you know, visited India on one of his trips to the Indo-Pacific. India is an important partner when it comes to the Indo-Pacific and much of the NDS (National Defense Strategy) that continues to guide. This department is focused on the Indo-Pacific and our pacing challenge of China and India has shown to be a great partner in that. So, our military to military relationship is strong,” Sabrina Singh said.

Rajnath Singh is the highest-ranking Indian cabinet ministers scheduled to visit the United States since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for his third term in June this year. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The United States welcomes India’s engagement in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and its efforts to bring peace between the two countries, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel has said here.

Mr Patel was responding to a question on the likely visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ukraine later this month.

“I will let the (Indian) prime minister’s office speak to any of his own travels. I don’t have anything to offer there,” he said during his daily news conference on Wednesday.

“We are in touch with our Indian partners on a number of issues and, of course, would welcome India’s engagement in the war between Russia and Ukraine, especially as it relates to ensuring that we get to a just and durable peace that is reflective of what our Ukrainian partners are attempting to do, which is to defend their territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Mr Patel said.

PM Modi is likely to visit Poland and Ukraine from August 21 to 23. No official announcement in this regard has been made yet.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin bids farewell to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi following their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The United States is disappointed about the symbolism and timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Russia visit at a time when it hosted the NATO summit here, a senior State Department official has told the lawmakers, who have expressed concerns over the increasing India-Russia ties.

“I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing here on Tuesday.

“I assure you may be if I could just take a moment to put into context that visit. Prime Minister Modi, two weeks before he went to Moscow, also saw President Zelenskyy on the margins of the G7 summit in Italy,” he said.

“Then we were looking very carefully at what Modi did when he was in Moscow. We did not see any new major defense deals. We saw no major discussion of technology cooperation. In addition, you have Modi having said in front of Putin on live television, his feeling that the war in Ukraine could not be won on the battlefield and the pain that he felt watching the death of children in war,” Mr. Lu said.

“A clear reference to the bombing of the children’s hospital in Kyiv that happened while he was there. I share your concern about this visit, sir, and we are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians. The Indians, who have cancelled billions of dollars in defense purchases over these last two and a half years because the Russians can’t deliver anymore. So we’re working very hard on that,” Mr. Lu said.

He was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a former co-chair of the Caucus of India and Indian Americans in this regard.

“I was shocked and saddened to see the embrace by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who I so respect and admire embrace war criminal Putin in Moscow on the very day that Mr. Putin intentionally launched missiles at the largest children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine,” he said.

“Prime Minister Modi is a hero of mine who I have visited in New Delhi, have welcomed twice to address Congress along with being present with Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina at Madison Square Garden and New York City. I was with President Donald Trump at the Howdy Modi welcome for Prime Minister Modi. 40,000 people there in Houston, Texas and it turned out it’s something I know. It was the largest assemblage of millionaires in the history of the world,” the Republican Congressman said.

“The Indian American community has been so successful. The future of India should be with democratic free markets as we have seen. Indian Americans have achieved the highest level of income of any immigrant group in the United States. In fact, Indian Americans make twice the income of the average American and indeed it’s due to association with democracy, not dictatorship and the dictatorship that world criminal Putin is trying to restore the failed Soviet Union and he wants to oppress first the people of Russia,” Mr. Wilson said.

“It’s to the benefit not of the people of Russia, but to the oligarchs just as the communist regime was to benefit the ranking members of the Communist Party. With that in mind, India should be a beacon for democracy and not dependent on a dictatorship. What can be done, to promote India not being dependent on inferior Russian weapons and cheap commodities? And we know that the gas that’s being purchased, the funding of that is going to kill Ukrainians,” he added.

Delhi CM and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal being brought out of the courtroom at Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

U.S. issues rare criticism of India in religious freedom report

The United States offered rare criticism of close partner India in a report published Wednesday on religious freedom, while also voicing alarm over rising bigotry worldwide against both Jews and Muslims. Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the annual report and said that the United States was also facing its own sharp increase of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in connection to the Gaza war.

Delhi Excise policy case: CBI arrests Arvind Kejriwal, gets three-day custody

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) formally arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case on June 26, and was granted three days to interrogate him in its custody. The day also saw Mr. Kejriwal withdraw his petition from the Supreme Court, while promising to return with a fresh challenge against the stay of his statutory bail by the Delhi High Court on June 25.

CBI questions Jharkhand school principal and bank officials in NEET case

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) paper leak case on Wednesday reached Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh Oasis School over allegations of tampering of question papers. The CBI is conducting a nationwide probe into alleged malpractices in medical entrance exam NEET-UG and has taken over cases probed by the police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar.

India asks Italy to take prompt action against persons responsible for Indian farm worker’s death

India on Wednesday asked Italy to take prompt action against those responsible for the death of a 31-year-old Indian worker who died after he was dumped on the road without medical assistance by his employer after his arm was severed by heavy farm machinery.

Former Foreign Secretary Muchkund Dubey, at the helm when Cold War ended, passes away

Former Foreign Secretary Muchkund Dubey, who steered India’s foreign affairs establishment towards the end of the Cold War and the post-Cold War phase in the early 1990s, passed away here on Wednesday at a private hospital, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a think tank he was associated with, announced.

With dummy FIRs and pocket guides, police get ready to switch to new criminal laws

Ahead of the implementation of the new criminal laws from July 1, at least 23 modifications have been made to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems (CCTNS), an online platform used by more than 16,000 police stations across the country to register first information reports. From July 1, the FIRs will be registered under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), instead of Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

India is looking at ‘potential’ institutional reforms: U.S. official

India is looking at “potential” institutional reforms against the backdrop of the Pannun issue and alleged assassination attempts, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell said on June 26, adding that the U.S. seeks “accountability” from the Indian government and has “consistently” asked for updates on the committee investigating the matter.

Coup attempt in Bolivia fails as president urges people to mobilize against democracy threat

Armoured vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt against President Luis Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. The soldiers later pulled back as supporters of Arce waved Bolivian flags and cheered in a central square.

U.S. issues rare criticism of India in religious freedom report

The United States offered rare criticism of close partner India in a report published Wednesday on religious freedom, while also voicing alarm over rising bigotry worldwide against both Jews and Muslims. Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the annual report and said that the United States was also facing its own sharp increase of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in connection to the Gaza war.

Sri Lanka seals debt deal with Official Creditor Committee after financial crisis

In what it termed a significant milestone, Sri Lanka on Wednesday sealed a deal with the Official Creditor Committee [OCC], to restructure the debt owed to its bilateral lenders including India, and signed a separate agreement with China for debt treatment.

Kenya’s president withdraws finance bill that prompted deadly protests

Kenyan President William Ruto said on June 26 he won’t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya’s government in decades. The government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said the bill caused more economic pain as millions struggle to get by. The chaos on Tuesday led the government to deploy the military, and Ruto called protesters’ actions “treasonous.”

Apple supplier Foxconn said to reject married women from India iPhone jobs 

A Reuters investigation has found that Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main iPhone assembly plant on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts. S. Paul, a former human-resources executive at Foxconn India, said the company’s executives verbally convey the recruitment rules to its Indian hiring agencies, which Foxconn tasks with scouting for candidates, bringing them in for interviews and employing them.

ICC T20 rankings: Travis Head replaces Suryakumar Yadav as top T20 batter, Jasprit Bumrah moves to 24

Australia opener Travis head on June 26 toppled India’s Suryakumar Yadav as the number one batter in the latest ICC T20 rankings. Suryakumar was holding the number one spot since December 2023 but Head’s splendid run at the T20 World Cup catapulted him to the top even as his team has been knocked out.

Progress in defence partnerships, critical emerging technologies and economic prosperity can be achieved when an “ambitious India” works with an “ambitious America” during Modi 3.0, U.S. envoy Eric Garcetti has said.

Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and the ruling NDA coalition for their successful election, Mr. Garcetti said in Modi 3.0 is a time to turn dreams of the bilateral relationship into reality.

“I think in Modi 3.0, it’s a time for us to take our dreams and to really make them reality,” Mr. Garcetti said in the interview with PTI, the first by a senior Biden Administration official after the recent general elections in India in which after which Prime Minister Modi was voted to power for a historic third consecutive term.

“Whether it’s the work that we’re doing together on our defence partnership, whether it’s our critical emerging technologies, or whether it’s the work that we’re doing to build economic prosperity, I think those three things in Modi 3.0, we can look forward to seeing an ambitious India working with an ambitious America to achieve,” Mr. Garcetti said.

“I think 3.0 is all about how we make the U.S. and India, again, this relationship that can do good not only for our people but in the world, that can show the world that democracies are better than dictatorships, that a free and open Indo-Pacific is something that is a benefit to every human being,” he said.

Mr. Garcetti, who recently completed one year as the United States envoy to India, said that during Prime Minister Modi’s second term, “we saw a state visit, the visit of the President during G20, and over 150 agreements reached on everything from the seabed to the stars”. “Whether it’s in space, whether it’s in health, whether it’s in defence, whether it’s in trade, we resolved past conflicts and really moved forward with our ambitions in the future,” the 53-year-old former Mayor of Los Angeles city, said.

Mr. Garcetti, a close confidant of President Joe Biden is currently in Washington DC to attend the Select USA Summit, in which India has the largest delegation.

He will also address the U.S.-India Aviation Summit, the first in seven years.

Responding to a question on the Indian elections, he said, “First of all, what an impressive election to see a country of 1.4 billion people exercise their right to vote, to see the logistics, the security, the work that was done to ensure the largest democratic election in the world was awesome to see.” “Second, elections are all about people exercising their fundamental rights. It was wonderful for us to see that. We are the two largest democracies in the world,” he said.

Congratulating Prime Minister Modi, the BJP, and the coalition for their successful election, he said, “It certainly is a group of leaders that we know well, that we respect well, and we work with incredibly well.” “We can’t wait to get back to business. But I assure people, even in the midst of an election, the U.S.-India relationship didn’t take a pause and didn’t miss a beat,” he said.

“We continued that critical work, even in the height of the Indian election, as I know it will continue in the height of ours,” he said in response to a question.

Describing his ambassadorship as the best job in the world, he said he feels like the luckiest guy on the face of the earth.

“Personally, I have loved the warmth that Indians have received me with. I love my interactions with my Indian counterparts,” he said.

Underscoring that he has tried to promote two things, Mr. Garcetti said, “One is that this is a bigger relationship than just us. Whether we work together in Africa, Pacific Island countries, Southeast Asia, in the multilateral space, in delivering the best G20 ever, that when India and the U.S. are aligned, we’re an unstoppable force.” Secondly, Mr. Garcetti asserted that this is more than about governments to governments.

“What I have felt is not just my amazing interactions with the Prime Minister, with the Minister of External Affairs and other members of the cabinet, it’s been local people in small villages, in remote states, in places off the tourist map where I really have seen the soul of India alive and breathing and its ambitions,” he said.

He said his fundamental impression of India as a diverse democracy full of the “most generous, welcoming people anywhere on the face of the earth” hasn’t changed.

“It’s a place that is always in a constant state of flux, that is the crossroad of the past and the future together. What has changed is seeing on the ground what’s being actually built,” he said.

“When I arrived in India when I was just 14 years old, you know, it was an underdeveloped country that was struggling with infrastructure, could barely get the power there, and wasn’t connected to the international economy,” he said.

“It was a proud, independent nation, but it wasn’t yet prosperous. And what I can see now is that vision of prosperity for everyone, “ he said.

“I also see the empowerment of people who are the most creative, entrepreneurial, and also caring people that I’ve ever met, who want to help their fellow Indians do better,” he added.

“I also see the breakdown of kind of the insular look of India having to survive on its own, it’s now able to project itself into the world, whether it’s protecting the oceans, as we’ve seen in the West Indian Ocean recently, its piracy, whether it’s in development and health, manufacturing the world’s vaccines,” he said.

“Those are the sorts of things that, to me, inspire me that the India of tomorrow is different in its capacity, but it fundamentally hasn’t changed in its soul,” Mr. Garcetti said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin attends the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore June 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin on June 1 said the U.S.-India ties are based on a common vision and common values and the momentum in the relationship is not only going to continue but will pick up speed.

Mr. Austin’s remarks came as he responded to a delegate’s question at the Shangri La Dialogue about bilateral ties.

Held annually in Singapore, the Shangri La Dialogue Dialogue is Asia’s premier defence summit.

“The relationship we enjoy right now with India is as good as or better than our relationship that it has ever been,” he told delegates.

“We are co-producing armoured vehicles with India,” he said, adding that good progress has been made on the project.

The U.S.-India relations are based on a common vision and common values. “So, I believe the momentum that we see is not only going to continue but, at a point, it will pick up speed.” In his address on the Indo-Pacific region, Mr. Austin said: “Together with our friends in the region, we are breaking down national barriers and better integrating our defence industry.” America will continue to play a vital role in the Indo-Pacific, he assured.

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam claim parts of it.

The U.S., India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military assertiveness in the resource-rich region.

Mr. Austin also informed delegates that the U.S. defence industry is being integrated with those of the regional countries, including Japan.

“Together we are investing in capabilities that promote lasting security and stability. And together we are ensuring that the Indo Pacific will remain secure.” He underlined why the U.S. was maintaining a presence in the region and will continue to make investments necessary with its commitment to allies and partners.

“We consistently link our investments to our strategy … the United States has devoted a historic amount of resources towards maintaining the Indo-Pacific.

“The United States can be secure only if Asia is and that’s why the United States has long maintained its presence in this region,” he stressed.