Indian-origin Nikki Haley has sounded the alarm against the United States’ ongoing rift with “prized and democratic partner” India. In what could clearly been seen as a direct message to her former presidential campaign rival Donald Trump, she urged the sitting-US president to mend the rift with the South Asian country or risk a “strategic disaster.”
An opinion piece on Newsweek, penned by the former US Ambassador the United Nations, grabbed attention shortly after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt overtly confirmed the “sanctions on India” or the double tariff penalty amounting to the massive 50% duties blow were meant to exert extra pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine. India is the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil but China still tops that list, and yet, only the former has been targeted by additional tariffs.
Indian-origin Nikki Haley urges Trump to maintain friendship with ‘free, democratic’ partner India
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to Punjabi Sikh parents in India, co-authored the Newsweek article titled “To Counter China, Rebuild U.S.-India Relationship” alongside Bill Drexel this week. It emerged on the outlet’s website on August 20 (US time), as she wrote that US President Trump was “right to target India’s massive Russian oil purchases, which are helping to fund Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine.”
However, in the same breath, she emphasised the need to treat the South Asian nation as “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.” She goes on to describe India as the “only country that can serve as a counterweight to Chinese dominance in Asia,” while noting that continuing a rift with such a country would only result in a “strategic disaster.”
Nikki Haley argues it should India and US vs China
Doubling down on praising India’s stance on the global stage, Haley wrote, “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 China-like scale for products that can’t be quickly or efficiently produced here, like textiles, inexpensive phones, and solar panels.”
While also detailing the country’s comprehensive defence network, she further asserted that India’s importance would be “even more profound” in the longer run. Given the country’s population, which now crossed China’s numbers to become the world’s most populous country in 2023, she resorted to calling it “among the greatest obstacles to China’s goal of reshaping the global order.”
Despite listing democratic India’s plus points, Nikki Haley noted that its rise and development didn’t threaten the “free world” like “Communist-controlled China” did. Countering the current state of events, she instead proposed that a firm partnership be established between both the US and India to stand tall against China.
“It would serve America’s interests to help India stand up to its increasingly aggressive northern neighbor, both economically and militarily,” the Indian-origin American politician added. Haley also foregrounded that if things continued as they were, a “massive,” though preventable, mistake could result in relations between the US and India expanding into an “enduring rupture.”
As part of foreboding prediction, she also foresaw that if this did happen in the future, the Chinese Communist Party would instantly jump on the opportunity to “play India and the United States against one another.”
Need for direct talks between Trump and Modi to retain ages-old US-India friendship
In addition to urging Trump to make it his “most urgent priority” to reverse the deterioration of the global connection by directly sitting down with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she also argued that India, for its part, must work out a solution to rework the Russian oil purchase scenario. Pushing for the reversal to happen as soon as possible, Haley wrote, “The administration should focus on mending the rift with India and giving the relationship more high-level attention and resources—approaching what the U.S. devotes to China or Israel.”
The Walter P Stern Chair at the Hudson Institute began the op-ed by reminding the world of former President Ronald Reagan welcoming then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to a state dinner at the White House in July 1982. As both countries once toasted the friendship between “two proud, free people,” Haley finished her article reminding the US of its shared goals with India, and how facing off against China would require America to “have a friend” in the South Asian nation.
Reiterating that throwing a decades-long friendship was not worth the action, the ex-South Carolina governor affirmed that a “deepening partnership” is based on a solid foundation defined by difficult conversations about challenging issues.