Fareed Zakaria warns: 'By targeting India, Trump is wrecking America's entire Asia strategy'
Zakaria said the move to single out India for buying Russian oil was "very strange," given the longstanding bipartisan approach to treat India as a natural ally.
- Aug 12, 2025,
- Updated Aug 12, 2025 7:26 PM IST
Fareed Zakaria, author and prominent global affairs analyst, has said US President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Indian imports are "wrecking the entire US Asia strategy". Trump, he said, is targeting one of Washington's key partners in countering China. Zakaria also added that the move to single out India for buying Russian oil was "very strange," given the longstanding bipartisan approach to treat India as a natural ally.
"There are very few countries that have been singled out as much as India. There's Brazil as we talked about – there's China, there's India. The United States has built its geopolitical strategy in Asia to counter China around India. The whole point of the Quad was to bring India in as a major counterweight to China. So what he's doing now by putting India in this small group of countries whom he has targeted for particular punishment is he's wrecking the entire US Asia strategy," he said in an interview with News18.
Zakaria rejected the idea that such a move could bring political gains in the US. "India-bashing doesn't work in the United States anymore. The general perception of India in America is very favorable. If you look at polling, Americans don't care a lot about the rest of the world, but to the extent they do, India ranks very favorably. Yes, there are some places where there are concerns...but in general, Americans think of India as a fellow democracy, as an ally, as a country that has problems with China. There is an enormous amount of connection between India and the United States, partly because of the Indian diaspora in America, partly because trade has been increasing mightily in recent years. So it's not clear to me that it would be a political winner for Trump."
On the potential impact of Trump's tariffs to bilateral ties, Zakaria warned: "It could mark the beginning of a serious rift. It certainly means there will be a much more troubled relationship. It’s extremely unfortunate. It is entirely puzzling why Trump is doing this. It's a massive reversal of bipartisan foreign policy."
He also described the episode as a cautionary tale for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Many of them overlooked a lot of the frankly bizarre behavior of Donald Trump...because their attitude was well he likes India and he likes Modi. The truth is that when you have an unpredictable, erratic, quasi-authoritarian figure in the White House, one day he likes you and one day he doesn't like you. That is how that type of leader works. And I think Prime Minister Modi placed far too much on his basic personal relationship with Trump."
Zakaria said it would have been more sensible to have had a stronger government-to-government relationship at every level - the Pentagon, the State Department, and commerce..."instead the whole thing was placed entirely on the idea that well Trump likes India and he likes Modi. Well, he likes India and Modi until he doesn’t. That's how Donald Trump works."
On whether Modi's upcoming visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit could shift the balance of power, Zakaria said: "India, for its own reasons, is going to be wary of a very close relationship with China. But will it mean that the increasingly cozy relationship India and the United States had will be put on hold for a while? Yes, I do...India perhaps will come to the decision that while it has geostrategic rivalries with China, economically they can do more business together that would be good for India in any event."
He also cautioned that unlike in disputes with Europe and China, Trump may not back down easily. "India is irrelevant to the United States economically...so I worry that Trump will stand firm. Modi will stand firm because he's also a proud man and this relationship will deteriorate. The people of the two countries will suffer from what was going to be a much, much closer, warmer relationship."
Trump's executive order to raise tariffs to 50% — among the highest imposed by the US — will take effect on August 27.
Fareed Zakaria, author and prominent global affairs analyst, has said US President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Indian imports are "wrecking the entire US Asia strategy". Trump, he said, is targeting one of Washington's key partners in countering China. Zakaria also added that the move to single out India for buying Russian oil was "very strange," given the longstanding bipartisan approach to treat India as a natural ally.
"There are very few countries that have been singled out as much as India. There's Brazil as we talked about – there's China, there's India. The United States has built its geopolitical strategy in Asia to counter China around India. The whole point of the Quad was to bring India in as a major counterweight to China. So what he's doing now by putting India in this small group of countries whom he has targeted for particular punishment is he's wrecking the entire US Asia strategy," he said in an interview with News18.
Zakaria rejected the idea that such a move could bring political gains in the US. "India-bashing doesn't work in the United States anymore. The general perception of India in America is very favorable. If you look at polling, Americans don't care a lot about the rest of the world, but to the extent they do, India ranks very favorably. Yes, there are some places where there are concerns...but in general, Americans think of India as a fellow democracy, as an ally, as a country that has problems with China. There is an enormous amount of connection between India and the United States, partly because of the Indian diaspora in America, partly because trade has been increasing mightily in recent years. So it's not clear to me that it would be a political winner for Trump."
On the potential impact of Trump's tariffs to bilateral ties, Zakaria warned: "It could mark the beginning of a serious rift. It certainly means there will be a much more troubled relationship. It’s extremely unfortunate. It is entirely puzzling why Trump is doing this. It's a massive reversal of bipartisan foreign policy."
He also described the episode as a cautionary tale for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Many of them overlooked a lot of the frankly bizarre behavior of Donald Trump...because their attitude was well he likes India and he likes Modi. The truth is that when you have an unpredictable, erratic, quasi-authoritarian figure in the White House, one day he likes you and one day he doesn't like you. That is how that type of leader works. And I think Prime Minister Modi placed far too much on his basic personal relationship with Trump."
Zakaria said it would have been more sensible to have had a stronger government-to-government relationship at every level - the Pentagon, the State Department, and commerce..."instead the whole thing was placed entirely on the idea that well Trump likes India and he likes Modi. Well, he likes India and Modi until he doesn’t. That's how Donald Trump works."
On whether Modi's upcoming visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit could shift the balance of power, Zakaria said: "India, for its own reasons, is going to be wary of a very close relationship with China. But will it mean that the increasingly cozy relationship India and the United States had will be put on hold for a while? Yes, I do...India perhaps will come to the decision that while it has geostrategic rivalries with China, economically they can do more business together that would be good for India in any event."
He also cautioned that unlike in disputes with Europe and China, Trump may not back down easily. "India is irrelevant to the United States economically...so I worry that Trump will stand firm. Modi will stand firm because he's also a proud man and this relationship will deteriorate. The people of the two countries will suffer from what was going to be a much, much closer, warmer relationship."
Trump's executive order to raise tariffs to 50% — among the highest imposed by the US — will take effect on August 27.