THE US’ priority should be to reverse the “downward spiral” in ties with India, Republican leader Nikki Haley has said, stressing that New Delhi must be treated as a “prized free and democratic” partner. The Indian-American leader’s remarks in an opinion piece in the ‘Newsweek magazine’ on Wednesday came amid strain in ties between the two countries following President Donald Trump slapping 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods. Haley said that few objectives are more critical to the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals of “outcompeting China and achieving peace through strength” than putting “US-India relations back on track”.

 

For this, she said, “India must be treated like the prized free and democratic partner that it is—not an adversary like China”, which, she said has so far avoided sanctions for its Russian oil purchases, despite being one of Moscow’s “largest customers”. President Trump has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent including a 25 per cent additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil. Haley said if this disparity does not demand a closer look at US-India relations, the “realities of hard power should”. She said Washington’s “most urgent priority should be to reverse the downward spiral” in bilateral ties with New Delhi.