New York, 2 Sep

President Donald Trump has “shredded” decades of Western efforts to wean India away from Russia and caution it on the threat posed by China, US' former National Security Adviser John Bolton has said, noting that the American leader's tariff policies and claims of ending the recent India-Pakistan military conflict worsened the situation.

Bolton, who served as NSA in the first Trump administration, has been very critical of his former boss.

“The West has spent decades trying to wean India away from its Cold War attachment to Soviet Union Russia, and cautioning India on the threat posed by China. Donald Trump has shredded decades of efforts with his disastrous tariff policy,” Bolton said in a post on X Monday.

In an interview with Sky News, Bolton elaborated that the West, and the US in particular, has spent decades trying to wean India away from Russia, buying sophisticated weapons from them and cautioning New Delhi on the danger posed by China. This was symbolised by the Quad grouping of Japan, India, Australia and the United States.

“A lot of effort (was made) to make India more amenable to cooperation with these countries. Donald Trump, in the past weeks, has essentially upended that and, for a variety of reasons, now sent India back toward Russia, to grow closer to China, and just shredding these decades of efforts," he said.

The former NSA stressed that while the situation can be repaired, it would require significant work, which he does not see happening in the near term.

Bolton said there are a series of things that Trump has done that have offended the Indians on the basic tariffs that Trump wants, which he said at a macro level economic phenomena are a “disaster" for everybody.

He said India believed it was close to resolving disputes with Washington, only to be hit with 25 per cent duties. Trump then carried through on his threat to impose secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian oil and gas.

“Trump whacked India with another 25%, (but) did not tariff Russia, did not tariff China, the largest purchaser of Russian oil and gas. And then, to make it worse, when the recent escalation between Pakistan and India over a terrorist attack in Kashmir occurred... Trump took full credit for it as one of the six or seven wars that he stopped this year to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, which has made India incandescent,” said Bolton, a long-time critic of Trump.

Since 10 May, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 40 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in Parliament that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has categorically said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

Bolton has earlier said that the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on India for its purchase of Russian oil may have pushed New Delhi closer to the Beijing-Moscow axis, describing it as an “unforced error”.

Bolton's Maryland home and Washington office were recently searched by the FBI as part of a criminal probe into the alleged mishandling of classified material.