Former Biden Officials Urge Restoration of US-India Strategic Partnership Amid Rising Tariff Tensions

Sullivan and Campbell emphasized that the US risks losing a key strategic partner in India

Washington:

As India-US relations experience a "moment of unprecedented discord" following President Donald Trump's tariffs on Indian imports, former top American officials from the Biden administration believe bilateral ties must be restored to prevent China from gaining an innovation advantage. In a joint Foreign Affairs article, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and ex-Deputy Secretary Kurt M Campbell highlighted that the partnership between New Delhi and Washington enjoys "bipartisan support" and has "effectively disincentivised reckless Chinese adventurism" in the Indo-Pacific region.

The former officials suggested that US partners need "to impress on their Indian interlocutors that US President Donald Trump's theatrics are often the prelude to dealmaking."

This commentary emerges amid stalled India-US trade negotiations following the Trump administration's decision to impose a cumulative 50 percent tariff on India.

Sullivan and Campbell observed that "tariffs, Russian oil purchases, and renewed tensions regarding Pakistan have caused a rapid and regrettable downturn in the US-Indian relationship, replete with public insults and recriminations," emphasizing it was "prudent to remember why India has emerged over the last generation as one of the United States' most important global partners." They cautioned that if current trends continue, Washington could lose a vital strategic ally.

"As [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi's chummy appearance over the weekend with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear, the United States could end up driving India directly into its adversaries' arms," they wrote, referencing the three leaders' meeting at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

They warned that India might find itself pressured from all directions with an "unaccommodating power in China on its border and strained technology, education, and defence ties with the United States."

"Given this reality, Washington and New Delhi must strive to do more than simply restore the old, suboptimal status quo," the former officials added.

They recalled that before this recent discord, successive US presidents advanced specific initiatives to strengthen relations with New Delhi, "converting a general sense of promise into something deeper and sustained, including President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's landmark U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement and President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cooperation in critical fields such as AI, biotechnology, and aerospace."

On 'India-Pakistan' Policy

Sullivan and Campbell advocated that Washington should avoid "hyphenating its relations with India and Pakistan" and eliminate any "India-Pakistan" policy framework. They explained that American diplomacy has prioritized New Delhi in recent years for good reason. "The United States has enduring interests in Pakistan in combating terrorism and limiting nuclear and missile proliferation, but these pale in significance to Washington's multifaceted and consequential interests regarding India's future," they stated.

Their remarks follow Trump claiming credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan after recent military tensions, despite India's consistent denial. After years of diplomatic distance, US-Pakistan relations recently warmed when Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House to discuss trade, economic development, and cryptocurrency.

Shortly thereafter, in July, the Trump administration announced a trade agreement with Pakistan and offered to help Islamabad develop its "massive oil reserves." Simultaneously, the US imposed 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods.

5 Pillars of Strength

Sullivan and Campbell proposed that a new strategic alliance between the United States and India would be established through a treaty requiring advice and consent from the U.S. Senate. "It would be built on five core pillars, with the aim of enhancing the mutual security, prosperity, and values of both countries."

They recommended that both nations first develop a ten-year action plan for sharing technologies in "artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotech, quantum, clean energy, telecommunications, and aerospace," which will shape the future.

"The goal would be to build a common technology ecosystem, linked to other allies, to ensure the United States and fellow democracies do not cede the innovation edge to competitors such as China. This would mean working together on both the "promote" agenda of bold public investments, common R&D, and shared talent—as well as the "protect" agenda of aligning export controls and cybersecurity measures," they concluded.