In a shocking development, Former US National Security Advisor (NSA) and attorney Jake Sullivan recently hit out at President Donald Trump on his 50 per cent tariff on India. He accused Trump of sacrificing India-US ties over his family’s business deals in Pakistan.
Sullivan was a former official in the Joe Biden administration. He said that the move to sacrifice the relationship with India is a “huge strategic harm” in the US’s own right.
In an interview with the MeidasTouch YouTube channel, the former NSA was questioned about the ongoing trade dispute between the US and India, as well as Donald Trump’s repeated claims of resolving the India-Pakistan conflict following the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The host also raised points about the Trump family’s Bitcoin business in Pakistan and Tim Cook’s Apple factories in India.
“I think this is one of the more under-reported stories in Trump’s foreign policy, and I’m really glad that you raised it,” Sullivan said. He further said that the US has always worked to build its relationship with India, “the world’s largest democracy,” on a bipartisan basis for decades. He also added that it is “a country that we should be aligned with on technology, talent, economics, and so many other issues, and aligned with in dealing with the strategic threat from China”.
“And now, in no small part, I think because of Pakistan’s willingness to do business deals with the Trump family, he has thrown the India relationship over the side. That is a huge strategic harm in its own right because a strong US-India relationship serves our interests,” Sullivan added.
Sullivan said it is bad for America if its friends and other countries feel they cannot trust or depend on the US. He explained that in the long run, this will hurt the American people.
“And that only reinforces your view that you’ve got to hedge against the United States,” the former NSA added.
“Our word should be our bond. We should be good for what we say. Our friends should be able to rely on us, and that has always been our strength. And what’s happening with India right now has huge direct impacts. But it also has this reverberating impact across all our relationships and partnerships in the world,” Sullivan noted.
