'Leaving India hanging out to dry...': Ex-US NSA slams 'aberrational president' Trump over tariffs on Delhi

Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton - File Photo

Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has criticised Washington’s current approach toward India, describing it as “confused” and warning that punitive measures risk alienating New Delhi at a time of deepening geopolitical competition.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Bolton said the India-US relationship is in “a very bad place” and cautioned that New Delhi could be nudged closer to Moscow and Beijing if the current trajectory continues.

Bolton took aim at the 25 per cent penalty imposed on Indian imports for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas, contrasting it with the absence of similar action against Beijing. “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. I do worry that India is being driven closer to Russia and China,” he said.

The tariff hike on India comes amid escalated trade tensions under the Trump administration, which raised import duties on Indian goods to 50 percent, which includes a 25 percent base tariff plus an additional 25 percent penalty tied to India’s purchase of Russian oil. These sanctions, seen as punitive measures, are scheduled to take effect on August 27, 2025.

The former NSA described the decision as part of what he called “the aberrational Trump presidency,” adding that the White House had pursued inconsistent positions on both trade and energy sanctions.

Bolton defends India on Russian oil

Bolton also rejected criticism from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that India has refined Russian crude and resold it internationally. He argued that New Delhi had acted within the letter of sanctions.

“The sanctions as written do not preclude anyone, including India, from buying Russian oil at the capped price or below $60 a barrel, and then selling it elsewhere. If that’s the complaint, the complaint lies with the sanctions, not India’s behaviour,” Bolton told Hindustan Times.

He further urged both Washington and New Delhi to limit the fallout until Donald Trump’s presidency ends, asserting that the current policy stance does not represent mainstream US thinking. “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,” Bolton said.

Criticism of Trump’s China policy

Turning to Washington’s China approach, Bolton accused Trump of lacking consistency and vision. “In the first term, Trump wanted the biggest trade deal in history with China. 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,” he said.