Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has accused President Donald Trump of undermining decades of progress in US-India relations, warning that steep tariffs on Indian imports are driving Prime Minister Narendra Modi closer to Russia and China.
In a post on X, Bolton stated, “The White House has set U.S.-India relations back decades, pushing Modi closer to Russia and China. Beijing has cast itself as an alternative to the U.S. and Donald Trump.”
John Bolton, a former US official, served as National Security Adviser to Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019 during Trump’s first term as President. He stepped down from the role following disagreements with Trump over the administration’s foreign policy.
Trump’s 50% tariff
His remarks come as Trump’s 50% tariff on goods from India took effect on August 27. Trump initially imposed a 25% tariff, citing unfair trade practices, followed by an additional 25% penalty over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
SCO Summit
The comments follow the conclusion of the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of State Council summit in Tianjin, China, where Prime Minister Modi held separate bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines.
US Brand In Toilet; China’s Looking More Responsible
Last month, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan criticized Donald Trump’s latest trade policies, asserting that heavy tariffs against India are harming America’s international reputation and making China appear more reliable on the global stage.
“China has moved ahead of the United States in popularity in a whole lot of countries, and that was not the case one year ago, where countries now are basically, you know, saying the U.S. brand is in the toilet, and China’s looking like, actually, in a bizarre way, a more responsible player. So that’s one of the big things that I hear from my friends who continue to work in these governments in Europe, in Asia,” Sullivan told Tim Miller on The Bulwark podcast.
Sullivan said, “Take a look at India as another example. I mean, here’s a country that on a bipartisan basis, we were working to try to build a deeper and more sustainable relationship with, and the China challenge loomed large in that. Now you’ve got President Trump executing a massive trade offensive against them, and the Indians are saying, well, shit, I guess maybe we have to go show up in Beijing and sit with the Chinese, because we’ve got a hedge against America.”
