Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and ex-Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell slammed US President Donald Trump for straining ties with India after he imposed steep tariffs on the South Asian nation.
In a joint op-ed published in Foreign Affairs, the former officials stated that US policy has inclined towards India in recent years, and there is a reason for that.
They said that Washington must refrain from hyphenating its relations with India and Pakistan: there should be no ‘India-Pakistan’ policy.
“US diplomacy in recent years has been heavily tilted toward New Delhi for a reason. The United States has enduring interests in Pakistan in combating terrorism and limiting nuclear and missile proliferation, but these pale in significance to Washington’s multifaceted and consequential interests regarding India’s future,” Sullivan and Campbell wrote.
The comments came against the background of Trump repeatedly taking credit for the truce between India and Pakistan to culminate the recent military standoff after Operation Sindoor.
Trump’s claims of US involvement in India and Pakistan’s ceasefire deal on May 10 were repeatedly denied by India. The US-Pakistan ties recently witnessed warmth relationship when Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House and discussed trade, economic development, and cryptocurrency.
As per the op-ed, the officials wrote that the officials in New Delhi need to be told that the Republican leader’s “theatrics are often the prelude to dealmaking.” Sullivan and Campbell believe that ties can and must be restored, so that the US “do not cede the innovation edge” to China.
Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell noted that Trump’s tariff policy, India’s purchases of Russian oil, and a fresh rift over Pakistan have “caused a swift and unfortunate decline” in US-India relations, pronounced by “public insults and blame.”
The former officials emphasised that it was “wise to recall the reasons India has, over the past generation, become one of America’s most significant global partners.”
They warned that if the current course continues, Washington risks losing a vital strategic partner.
Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s friendly interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, the op-ed cautioned that the US could be pushing India closer to its adversaries.