India Key To Countering China’s Dominance, Alienating It A 'Strategic Disaster', Says Nikki Haley In Sharp Rebuke To Trump

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has warned President Donald Trump that America risks a “strategic disaster” if it alienates India, its most vital democratic ally in Asia, reported The New Indian Express.

Haley, in an opinion piece for Newsweek, criticised Trump’s recent tariff threats and diplomatic strain with New Delhi.

She urged the administration to rethink its stance, stressing that “Scuttling 25 years of momentum with the only country that can serve as a counterweight to Chinese dominance in Asia would be a strategic disaster.”

She argued that India’s rise strengthens the free world, “unlike Communist-controlled China.”

While acknowledging India’s oil purchases from Russia, Haley noted Washington’s double standard, since “Beijing, one of Russia’s largest energy customers, has avoided any comparable U.S. sanctions.”

Highlighting supply chain security, Haley said, “While the Trump administration works to bring manufacturing back to our shores, India stands alone in its potential to manufacture at China-like scale for products that can't be quickly or efficiently produced here, like textiles, inexpensive phones, and solar panels.”

Her warning came days before Trump’s proposed 50 percent tariff on Indian goods takes effect on 27 August.

India has called the move “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” vowing to protect its interests.

Haley also underlined India’s growing defence partnerships with the US, Israel, and allies, and its increasing Middle East influence.

Calling India’s rise a major check on Beijing, she asserted: “Simply put, China’s ambitions will have to shrink as India’s power grows.”

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