Jeffrey Sachs advises India: 'Don't trust US as your main partner, align with BRICS'
India, of course, needs its independent foreign policy. It should look with some care at statements and commitments by the United States, says Sachs
- Aug 13, 2025,
- Updated Aug 13, 2025 1:43 PM IST
American economist Jeffrey Sachs has cautioned India against overreliance on the United States, saying security arrangements with Washington won't work. He suggested that India should align itself with BRICS as the US is not going to accept large exports from India anymore than it did from China.
Trump's tariffs: impulsive, not strategic
On US President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Indian imports of Russian oil, Sachs said, "Trump is not a very logical person and not a very strategic person - and so he does things impulsively. He thought that India would immediately agree to the demands he made, that India would state - 'we will not buy Russian oil'. So this was a threat. India rightly did not succumb to the threat."
"It was not a well-thought-out strategy. Very little that Trump does is a well-thought-out strategy. What it has done, though, is to alert India to something that I've been saying for a long time, which is that India should not trust the United States as its main partner. India, of course, needs its independent foreign policy and it should look with some care at statements and commitments by the United States," the economist said in an interview with News 18.
Sachs further said that it was thought by some that India would become a close economic partner that would replace China's trade. "I said that was naive. The United States is not going to accept large exports from India anymore than it did from China. This is not my view of what the US should do. It was my prediction of what the US would do. So I warned against relying on the goodwill of the US or thinking that India had some inside track on a good trade deal. I always thought that was an illusion."
On China and the principle of sanctions
The professor also addressed why Trump targeted India while largely sparing China, the bigger purchaser of Russian oil. "Well, he tried to punish China - but China retaliated immediately. It cut off exports of rare earths and rare earth magnets and other components vital for US industry. This is not a matter of principle. This is a matter of threats. This is a matter of what Trump decides to do impulsively, what he thinks he can get away with. So if you're looking for consistency, you're certainly looking in the wrong place. It's not going to come from the US."
Why US-India ties have soured
Discussing the broader context of US-India relations, Sachs explained, "Trump is not a strategist. He's not a logical thinker. He's not a consistent or far-sighted thinker. American foreign policy right now is impulsive. It's short-term. It doesn't work. Trump thinks that he has all the cards vis-a-vis any other country. So he thinks that the great prize of the US market - which is not so dominant nor is it so important for India - gives him the leverage to make whatever demands he wants."
Sachs said the underlying motivation behind these moves is more about projecting power than consistent policy. "But if you want to know the underlying mood or motivation, the US is flailing around because it's losing its dominance and it's trying to reestablish its dominance. It's trying to reestablish fear."
He elaborated on who the US is attempting to pressure. "It wants India to be submissive to the US. It wants Russia to be submissive to the US. It wants China to be submissive to the US. It wants the BRICS to somehow go away. It's not going to happen. The world has changed. The world is multipolar. There are many great powers: Russia, India, China, the United States."
India’s path forward
Sachs urged India to maintain an independent foreign policy and continue engaging with multipolar partners rather than relying on the US. "India should be careful. India should align with the BRICS on the basic proposition that we are in a multipolar world, that no single country - and that means the United States - can boss other countries around," he said.
He highlighted the risks of the current US approach, noting that unilateral actions are often driven by individuals rather than established legal processes. "No single country should re-arrange the international trading system on whims or threats coming from one person - remember in the US, we don't even have a constitutional process underway for these tariffs. This is a one-person show and he has no legal authority, no constitutional authority for this."
Sachs pointed out that India's current strategy of engaging with other global powers is prudent. "So India is doing the right thing. Prime Minister Modi spoke to President Lula, Prime Minister Modi is meeting with President Xi Jinping. Prime Minister Modi is meeting with President Putin. That's the right approach that the BRICS says wait a minute — we are not going to be bossed around by one country."
American economist Jeffrey Sachs has cautioned India against overreliance on the United States, saying security arrangements with Washington won't work. He suggested that India should align itself with BRICS as the US is not going to accept large exports from India anymore than it did from China.
Trump's tariffs: impulsive, not strategic
On US President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Indian imports of Russian oil, Sachs said, "Trump is not a very logical person and not a very strategic person - and so he does things impulsively. He thought that India would immediately agree to the demands he made, that India would state - 'we will not buy Russian oil'. So this was a threat. India rightly did not succumb to the threat."
"It was not a well-thought-out strategy. Very little that Trump does is a well-thought-out strategy. What it has done, though, is to alert India to something that I've been saying for a long time, which is that India should not trust the United States as its main partner. India, of course, needs its independent foreign policy and it should look with some care at statements and commitments by the United States," the economist said in an interview with News 18.
Sachs further said that it was thought by some that India would become a close economic partner that would replace China's trade. "I said that was naive. The United States is not going to accept large exports from India anymore than it did from China. This is not my view of what the US should do. It was my prediction of what the US would do. So I warned against relying on the goodwill of the US or thinking that India had some inside track on a good trade deal. I always thought that was an illusion."
On China and the principle of sanctions
The professor also addressed why Trump targeted India while largely sparing China, the bigger purchaser of Russian oil. "Well, he tried to punish China - but China retaliated immediately. It cut off exports of rare earths and rare earth magnets and other components vital for US industry. This is not a matter of principle. This is a matter of threats. This is a matter of what Trump decides to do impulsively, what he thinks he can get away with. So if you're looking for consistency, you're certainly looking in the wrong place. It's not going to come from the US."
Why US-India ties have soured
Discussing the broader context of US-India relations, Sachs explained, "Trump is not a strategist. He's not a logical thinker. He's not a consistent or far-sighted thinker. American foreign policy right now is impulsive. It's short-term. It doesn't work. Trump thinks that he has all the cards vis-a-vis any other country. So he thinks that the great prize of the US market - which is not so dominant nor is it so important for India - gives him the leverage to make whatever demands he wants."
Sachs said the underlying motivation behind these moves is more about projecting power than consistent policy. "But if you want to know the underlying mood or motivation, the US is flailing around because it's losing its dominance and it's trying to reestablish its dominance. It's trying to reestablish fear."
He elaborated on who the US is attempting to pressure. "It wants India to be submissive to the US. It wants Russia to be submissive to the US. It wants China to be submissive to the US. It wants the BRICS to somehow go away. It's not going to happen. The world has changed. The world is multipolar. There are many great powers: Russia, India, China, the United States."
India’s path forward
Sachs urged India to maintain an independent foreign policy and continue engaging with multipolar partners rather than relying on the US. "India should be careful. India should align with the BRICS on the basic proposition that we are in a multipolar world, that no single country - and that means the United States - can boss other countries around," he said.
He highlighted the risks of the current US approach, noting that unilateral actions are often driven by individuals rather than established legal processes. "No single country should re-arrange the international trading system on whims or threats coming from one person - remember in the US, we don't even have a constitutional process underway for these tariffs. This is a one-person show and he has no legal authority, no constitutional authority for this."
Sachs pointed out that India's current strategy of engaging with other global powers is prudent. "So India is doing the right thing. Prime Minister Modi spoke to President Lula, Prime Minister Modi is meeting with President Xi Jinping. Prime Minister Modi is meeting with President Putin. That's the right approach that the BRICS says wait a minute — we are not going to be bossed around by one country."