Top former US officials called on the Donald Trump administration to refrain from hyphenating India and Pakistan, saying that Washington should not have an “India-Pakistan policy”.
In a joint op-ed published in Foreign Affairs, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and ex-deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell argued that the US policy has tilted towards India in recent years, and there is a reason for that.
“Washington must also refrain from hyphenating its relations with India and Pakistan: there should be no ‘India-Pakistan’ policy. US diplomacy in recent years has been heavily weighted toward New Delhi for a 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,” Sullivan and Campbell wrote.
The comments came against the backdrop of Trump repeatedly taking credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan to end the recent military conflict after Operation Sindoor. This was despite India’s repeated denial of any US involvement in the ceasefire reached on May 10. The US-Pakistan ties saw warmth recently when Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House and discussed trade, economic development, and cryptocurrency.
Both ex-officials also fired salvos at Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on India, saying that the officials in New Delhi need to be told that the Republican leader’s “theatrics are often the prelude to dealmaking.” Sullivan and Campbell believe that ties can and must be restored, so that the US “do not cede the innovation edge” to China.
Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell call the downturn in India-US relations ‘regrettable’
Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell noted that Donald Trump’s tariffs, India’s Russian oil purchases, and renewed tensions between the US and India regarding Pakistan have “caused a rapid and regrettable downturn” in the New Delhi-Washington relationship, “replete with public insults and recriminations”.
According to the ex-officials, it was “prudent to remember why India has emerged over the last generation as one of the United States’ most important global partners.”
They argued that if the current trajectory persists, Washington could lose a key strategic partner.
“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,” the op-ed referred to the three global leaders’ meeting at the recently held Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin.
