Kenneth I. Juster, US Ambassador to India during Donald Trump’s first term as President, believes that tariffs should not affect the ‘strategic partnership’ between the two countries. He made the comment in an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published on Monday.
Juster told CFR, “I do not believe that Trump approaches these trade issues as part of a broader Indo-Pacific strategy, or as inconsistent with U.S. and Indian joint strategic objectives in the Indo-Pacific region.”
I think it is fair to suspect that the American Foreign Policy Establishment is delusional at best and mad at worst.
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Ambassador to India during Trump's 1st Term, Kenneth I. Juster, believes that it would be a mistake for India to "view these tariffs as fundamentally undercutting… pic.twitter.com/m3UWvEtHZi
He went on to add, “It would therefore be a mistake—and certainly premature—for the government of India to view these tariffs as fundamentally undercutting the strategic partnership that the two countries have developed over the last twenty-five years.”
“I believe the president still has a strong interest in the U.S.-India partnership and enjoys his good relationship with Modi. But he also favors the use of tariffs to try to rebalance the economic relationship and, if he imposes the additional tariff, to help close another deal—one between Russia and Ukraine—for an end to hostilities,” Juster said.
India sees things differently
The Indian Government does not appear to agree with former US Ambassador. Since the declaration of additional 25% tariffs by the Trump Administration, there has been a flurry of activity on the Indian side with regards to Russia and China.
NSA Ajit Doval visited Russia recently and his visit has been followed by MEA Jaishankar. There has been a significant thaw in Indo-China relations over the past couple of weeks. PM Narendra Modi met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday. PM Modi said he is looking forward to meeting President Xi at Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. Both sides are also working together to resolve the border issues amicably.
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All of this indicates that India is not willing to be cowed down by Trump’s tariffs threat. It also indicates that contrary to how the former US ambassador wants India to act, the Indian Government does believe the tariffs undermine the strategic partnership.
USA’s incendiary tariffs rhetoric keeps escalating
Trump officials have consistently resorted to escalating its rhetoric on tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has recently accused India of war profiteering. He said during an interview on Fox News, “America has placed high tariffs on China for a while. And now India is going to find out what that feels like”.
While Juster says that it would be a mistake for India to believe that the tariffs undermine the strategic partnership with the USA, even Trump officials do not appear to agree with him. Experts agree that India-US relations are at their worst in a long time. The future of the ‘strategic relationship’ remains unclear as tariffs have successfully shaken its foundations.
