US should treat India as 'prized free, democratic' partner: Nikki Haley

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 few objectives were 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 did 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.

"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 said.

Haley stressed that India was vital to US efforts to shift supply chains from China, with the capacity to produce at scale in areas like textiles, phones, and solar panels.

She added that New Delhi's expanding defence ties with the US and allies make it a "crucial asset to the free world's security", and its growing role in West Asia, and strategic location along China's trade routes make it a key security and economic partner.

Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, was the US Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump's first presidential term, becoming the first Indian-American to be appointed to a cabinet-level post in the US administration.

In 2013, she officially announced her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election and withdrew from the race in March last year.