Trump's good personal relationship with Modi 'now gone': Ex-US NSA
What's the story
Former United States National Security Adviser (NSA) John Bolton has said that the "very good relationship" President Donald Trump once had with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now gone. With this, he cautioned world leaders that having a close relationship with Trump won't protect them. "It's a lesson to everybody, for example, (UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer, that a good personal relationship may help at times, but it won't protect you from the worst," he said.
Critique expressed
Trump's foreign policy driven by personal relationships
Bolton's comments come amid a tense phase in India-US relations, worsened by Trump's tariff policy and his administration's constant criticism of New Delhi. Bolton said that he thinks Trump views international relations through the lens of his personal relationships with leaders. "If he has a good relationship with Vladimir Putin, the US has a good relationship with Russia," Bolton said in an interview with British media portal LBC.
Caution advised
Geopolitical realities over personal rapport, says Bolton
In a social media post accompanying his interview with LBC, Bolton said the White House has "set US-India relations back decades," pushing Modi closer to Russia and China. Bolton said Trump's treatment of India has reversed years of bipartisan US efforts to move New Delhi away from its Cold War alignment with Russia. He called it a "very bad moment" but added that it could be reversed again.
Policy criticism
Trump's treatment of India has reversed US efforts
Bolton, who was Trump's NSA from April 2018-September 2019, has been extremely critical of his former boss's actions against India. "When Trump slapped tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, but not China which also purchases [them], it may have pushed India further into the Beijing-Moscow axis. This lack of focus by the Trump Admin is an unforced error," he said in August. The same month, federal investigators raided his residence at the direction of Trump-appointed FBI Director Kash Patel.