American expert John Mearsheimer has criticized the US government’s approach to India, calling it a “massive mistake.” He says that the US’s plan to impose secondary tariffs on India for buying Russian oil won’t work and could even harm the relationship between the two countries.
Mearsheimer, a respected professor of political science at the University of Chicago, explained on a podcast last week that India has made it clear it won’t stop importing Russian oil. “This is a huge blunder on our part. India has no intention of cutting off oil imports from Russia,” he said.
He also pointed out that the Trump administration has damaged the otherwise good relations with India. When Donald Trump became president earlier, US-India ties were strong, especially because both countries wanted to work together to challenge China. But recent US actions, especially secondary sanctions, have complicated things and created mistrust.
In fact, Mearsheimer mentioned reports that Trump tried to contact Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times, but Modi did not respond. He noted that Modi seems to be moving closer toward China and Russia, which could be seen as a sign of India’s independent approach.
The expert criticized a strategy led by White House advisor Peter Navarro, suggesting it’s unlikely to have a happy ending. “Nobody outside of Navarro and a few others supports this move,” Mearsheimer said. He questioned the idea that India would bow to US pressure and what leverage the US really has over India to force such changes.
Overall, Mearsheimer concluded that the current US India policy could backfire, damaging long-time alliances and increasing mistrust between the two countries.
