Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton criticised Washington’s “confused” policy on India, questioning the 25% penalty on India for purchasing Russian energy while China faces no sanctions. In an interview with HT, Bolton acknowledged that the India-US relationship is for the time being in “a very bad place” and believes Trump is an “aberrational president” as he stressed on the need for efforts to limit damage to bilateral ties for the US President’s remaining term.
Q. Former ambassador Bolton, just a couple of months ago, India was a close strategic ally of the United States. Now things seem to have changed entirely—a 180-degree turn. As President Trump’s former National Security Advisor, can you channel some of his thinking on India?
A. Well, I think it’s unfortunately very confused. The first level of concern is the tariffs that emerged out of the so-called Liberation Day tariffs in April, where Indian negotiators were working to try and get a mutually satisfactory arrangement, and Trump kind of pulled the plug without warning and said the tariffs would be at 25%. The second matter is the 25% addition to that tariff because of purchases of Russian oil and gas. It turns out that Russia has not faced any new sanctions. China has not faced any new sanctions, notwithstanding the fact that they were the major purchasers of Russian oil and gas. India has been singled out. I wish India didn’t buy oil and gas from Russia, because I think it’s in the interest of India as well as the United States to recognise the threat posed by China, the growing axis between China and Russia, and the threat that poses globally. Leaving India hanging out to dry as the only country to which punitive action has been taken obviously leads a lot of people to conclude that the United States has given up on India, and I do worry that India is being driven closer to Russia and China. It’s just part of the aberrational Trump presidency. But it’s a very bad place for the relationship at the moment.
Q. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has come down hard on India for buying Russian energy. India has pushed back defending its position. Can you speak to that criticism?
A. Secretary Bessent isn’t very experienced in international affairs, and I don’t think he sees the growing axis between China and Russia. The complaint is that India took some of the gasoline it was buying from Russia, perhaps refined it and sold it internationally. That’s a complaint worth discussing. But the sanctions as written do not preclude anyone, including India, from buying Russian oil at the capped price, or below $60/barrel, and then selling it elsewhere. If that’s the complaint, the complaint lies with the sanctions, not so much with India’s behaviour. What India did isn’t prohibited.
Q. There are many in India questioning whether trust in the US has been strained beyond repair after the last few months. What would you say to them?
A. Unfortunately, what Trump has done on tariffs is destroying decades of effort with India and many others to build up good faith and reliance, and it will take time to repair that. But here’s what’s important: Trump is aberrational. I don’t know any other Republican or Democrat who ran for president who if elected would behave anything like this. Trump doesn’t have a philosophy, so there’s no legacy for his successors. Our objective should be to keep the damage to the relationship at a minimum, and then think about how to repair it quickly thereafter. When Trump leaves, he’ll take almost the bulk of this history with him.
Q. Regarding China, we’ve seen President Trump and his team push for a deal with the Chinese, but policy seems confused at times. What is Trump’s China policy?
A. It’s confused. In the first term, Trump wanted the biggest trade deal in history with China. Deadlines for tariffs on China have already been extended 180 days. China hasn’t faced secondary sanctions on its purchase of Russian oil and gas. If you want a trade war, we should have teamed up and had a trade war with China, because they’re the worst actor in international economics. They steal intellectual property, subsidise companies, don’t open their market even when they claim to. It’s hard to explain why he gives China this much leeway.
Q. Lastly, what do you see happening going forward? Are you optimistic that India and the US could return to normalcy?
A. I think a couple things will need to happen. We need continued conversations between non-governmental Indians and Americans, so people see that what’s happening at the top isn’t reflective of what the whole country thinks. Modi should wait for the right moment, perhaps at the UN General Assembly in New York in September, to meet Trump one-on-one and clear the air. Before the tariff problem, Trump and Modi had a good personal relationship, which is central to Trump’s view of state-to-state relations. That asset remains, and if deployed effectively, could be a step toward recovery.
