India getting under US skin by buying Russian arms, says Trump surrogate

TOI correspondent from US: The Trump administration on Monday laid out what is virtually a "you are either with us or against us" policy on India, warning New Delhi about buying Russian arms and being part of BRICS group of nations.

"That's a way to kind of get under the skin of America...That's not really the way to make friends and influence people in America," US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at discussion hosted by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.

Asserting that "there were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way," Lutnick suggested that New Delhi was falling in line, saying President Trump "calls that out directly and specifically, and the Indian government is addressing it specifically."

Lutnick's remarked irked the traditionally non-aligned foreign policy establishment in India, with some commentators asking if friendship with the US requires New Delhi giving up control of its foreign policy and have no national interest outside friendly ties with the US.

"India has far greater reasons to feel wronged by the US for decades and even today in some ways. From what Lutnick is saying the condition for making friends with the US is for India to shed its defence ties with Russia and not join any organisation that US does not like," noted former foreign secretary and ambassador Kanwal Sibal.

Lutnick, Sibal said, "is ill informed, has not adequately studied the history of India- US ties, and has little grounding in geopolitics."

On his part, Lutnick, one of several billionaires in the Trump cabinet with little grounding in politics and diplomacy, talked up his close personal ties to India and Indian-Americans, recounting his friendship with Nikesh Arora, a former senior executive at Google and CEO of Palo Alto Networks.

"(He's) one of my best friends, Nikesh Aurora... When I would go to India, we'd go to house parties, we played cricket, we just had fun, " Lutnick said, claiming it gave him a different perspective of India.

"I am a great fan of India, and even the people in the government know that that's true," he maintained while dissing New Delhi for not aligning fully with Washington.

In a post on X following the event, Lutnick wrote: We have a great relationship between our countries. I’m optimistic for a trade deal soon that will benefit both nations.

Trolls on social media taunted the Trump surrogate for his remarks, with one post reading: In so many words, Lutnick wants India to gift a plane to Taco Trump. Pakistan has given crypto deal to Trump's sons.

While the Trump II dispensation began its term appearing to continue with its warm relationship with India forged during the first term, matters have gradually gone south with the MAGA supremo clearly displeased with New Delhi not addressing tariffs and other issues with the urgency he would like.

From the get-go he expressed suspicion about BRICKS seeking to undermine the US dollar's status as a global reserve currency, and jarringly in recent weeks, took credit for defusing India-Pakistan tensions, claiming he had mediated a truce using trade as a carrot. New Delhi has trashed the claim.