US-India Ties Strained by Tariffs and Trust Deficit, Warns Senator Warner

Mark Warner, Chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, said the partnership remained central to Washington's global strategy but was currently falling short of its potential. "There is no more important geopolitical relationship that the United States has in the 21st century," he told IANS in an exclusive interview, adding that "the state of the US-India relationship at this point is not as good as it should be."

Warner said India's global position had fundamentally changed over the past decade. "For years, people would say, India's on the verge. On the verge. Well, I think India has arrived now," he said, calling that shift significant both geopolitically and in terms of India's role vis-a-vis China.

He noted that successive US administrations, beginning with Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and continuing through President Donald Trump's first term, had worked to strengthen ties with New Delhi. Those efforts, he said, focused on moving India away from long-term reliance on Russian military equipment and positioning it as a strategic counterweight to China.

However, Warner said recent trade actions had disrupted that progress. "The fact that we now have this trade war, which seems to be driven by Mr. Trump's ego more than any reason... the fact that we have a 50 per cent tariff... it seems crazy to me," he said.

He described the tariff as unfair and inconsistent, particularly in relation to other countries' dealings with Russia. "While I'm not glad that India's still buying oil from Russia, Turkey's buying lots of oil from Russia, and doesn't get charged with an additional tariff. China obviously is the leading purchaser," Warner said.

The senator warned that such measures risked weakening a relationship that had traditionally enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress. He also cited concerns over immigration policy, particularly attacks on the H-1B visa programme. "I fear that the relationship which has been bipartisan and so strong... is not as good as it should be," he said.

Warner expressed disappointment that Washington was not advancing a trade agreement with India, especially as New Delhi announced a major deal with the European Union. "I'd much rather be announcing a stronger trade deal between India and the United States," he said.

He said the current approach failed to recognise India's strategic autonomy. "India has other options," Warner said, warning that punitive tariffs could push New Delhi toward closer engagement with Beijing and Moscow. He pointed to recent high-level interactions involving India, China, and Russia as evidence that New Delhi was keeping its options open.

On Capitol Hill, Warner said the Senate India Caucus continued to play an active role in stabilising ties. "We are proud that the India Caucus is the largest bilateral caucus in the Congress," he said, adding that collective outreach by senators could influence decision-making within the executive branch.

He also highlighted the importance of the Indian American diaspora, particularly in Virginia and the broader Washington region, calling it one of the strongest pillars of the bilateral relationship. Warner said even Indian Americans who had supported Trump were questioning the current policy. "Even folks who were supportive of Mr. Trump are now saying, 'Why does India seem to be picked on more than other nations?'" he said.

Warner warned that repairing trust would take time. "Trust is broken very easily, and it's very hard to repair," he said, underscoring the need for sustained bipartisan engagement to restore momentum in the relationship.

The India-US partnership has expanded significantly over the past two decades, encompassing defence cooperation, intelligence sharing, technology collaboration, and deep people-to-people ties.

Both governments have repeatedly described the relationship as central to stability in the Indo-Pacific, even as shifting global alignments and policy frictions test the durability of that strategic convergence.

- IANS