Nikki Haley asserted that the two countries must not lose sight of the "shared goals".
- Nikki Haley urged India to work with the White House on Russian oil imports soon
- She cited decades of friendship as a basis to overcome trade tensions between the US and India
- Haley stressed the importance of US-India alliance to counter China's global ambitions
Donald Trump's Indian-American Republican colleague, Nikki Haley, on Sunday warned India over its Russian oil imports and asked to work on a solution with the White House "sooner the better". According to her, "decades of friendship" would provide a basis to "move past the turbulence" - referring to the ongoing tariff tensions.
"India must take Trump's point over Russian oil seriously, and work with the White House to find a solution. The sooner the better. Decades of friendship and good will between the world's two largest democracies provide a solid basis to move past the current turbulence. Navigating issues like trade disagreements and Russian oil imports demands hard dialogue," she wrote in a post on X.
Haley asserted that the two countries must not lose sight of the "shared goals" - to face China.
"But, we should not lose sight of what matters most: our shared goals. To face China, the United States must have a friend in India," she said.
Earlier in a Newsweek op-ed, Haley - the former US Ambassador to the United Nations - cautioned that ties between Washington and New Delhi are near a breaking point, and said it was critical to get the relations back on track if America hopes to contain China's growing global ambitions. According to her, India must not be treated as an adversary like China, and the Trump administration can't let the issues of tariffs or the US role in the India-Pakistan truce drive a wedge between two of the world's largest democracies.
India and US ties had strained in recent weeks after the Trump administration imposed secondary tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, and reportedly also over New Delhi denying his peacemaking role during their recent conflict with Pakistan. The US tariffs on Indian exports now stand above 50 per cent. This is the highest tariff Trump has imposed as per his fresh list, apart from Brazil.
India condemned the "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" move by the United States - which is likely to hit many sectors such as textiles and marine exports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also issued a strong message stressing that India would never compromise with the interests of its farmers and fishermen, adding that while he knows he will "have to pay the price", he was ready to do it for farmers.
