Nikki Haley Urges Trump To Treat India As 'Prized Free, Democratic' Partner Amid Tariffs, Warns Of 'Strategic Disaster'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) As 50 per cent tariffs against India threatens the relationship between India and the United States, former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley urged President Donald Trump to view India as a“prized free and democratic partner” in countering China, warning that undoing 25 years of progress in ties with New Delhi would amount to a“strategic disaster.” In an opinion piece for Newsweek, Nikki Haley said that the rise of India does not threaten the free world unlike,“Communist-controlled China.”

Nikki Haley said,“India must be treated like the prized free and democratic partner that it is – not an adversary like China, which has thus far avoided sanctions for its Russian oil purchases, despite being one of Moscow's largest customers.”

“If that disparity does not demand a closer look at U.S.-India relations, the realities of hard power should. 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.

“Unlike Communist-controlled China, the rise of a democratic India does not threaten the free world. Partnership between the U.S. and India to counter China should be a no-brainer,” she added.

Nikki Haley highlighted India's capacity to manufacture at a scale comparable to China, which she said could help the US shift critical supply chains away from Beijing. She said that China's ambitions will have to shrink as India's power grows.

"In the short term, India is essential in helping the United States move its critical supply chains away from China. While the Trump administration works to bring manufacturing back to our shores, India stands alone in its potential to manufacture at a China-like scale for products that can't be quickly or efficiently produced here, like textiles, inexpensive phones, and solar panels," Nikki Haley said in the opinion piece.

"India's growing clout and security involvement in the Middle East could prove essential in helping to stabilise the region as America seeks to send fewer troops and dollars there. And India's location at the centre of China's vital trade and energy flows could complicate Beijing's options in the case of a major conflict," she added.

(With agency inputs)

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