&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "US-India ties at 'worst in decades': Ex US NSA John Bolton says Trump ruined ties with Modi, pushed New Delhi closer to China, Russia")
Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has accused Donald Trump of damaging ties with India, warning that Washington’s approach has “set US-India relations back decades”. Bolton said the US president’s trade policies and sanctions had forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look towards Russia and China, undermining years of American efforts to draw India away from Moscow.
“The White House has set US-India relations back decades, pushing Modi closer to Russia and China. Beijing has cast itself as an alternative to the US and Donald Trump,” Bolton wrote on X, alongside an interview he gave to LBC.
Tariffs spark friction with India
New Delhi has been hit by sweeping US trade measures, including a 25% tariff on Indian imports and an additional 25% penalty because of its purchase of Russian crude oil. Washington argues the oil trade helps fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The tariffs have triggered one of the worst phases in US-India relations in more than 20 years, fuelling uncertainty for Indian exporters and raising concerns of an economic rift between the two democracies.
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Bolton’s remarks came as Modi joined Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, where more than 20 world leaders gathered. The image of the three leaders together has added to worries of a deepening anti-US alignment, partly spurred by Trump’s tariff policies. Bolton, who served under Trump in his first term, suggested that personal friendships between the president and world leaders could no longer be relied upon.
“Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that’s gone now,” Bolton said. “It’s a lesson to everybody, for example, (UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer, that a good personal relationship may help at times, but it won’t protect you from the worst,” he added.
‘Unforced error’ in US-India ties
The former NSA said Trump’s approach had undone years of bipartisan American work to shift India away from its Cold War reliance on Russia and towards recognising China as its main security threat. “That has been reversed. I think it can be reversed again, but it’s a very bad moment,” Bolton warned.
He described Trump’s decision to impose an unprecedented 25% tariff on Indian imports linked to Russian oil as an “unforced error” that could push India deeper into the orbit of Moscow and Beijing.
