‘What is it that the US wants from India’: Kanwal Sibal says India is not answerable to Washington
Sibal blamed Trump and his administration for pushing India away, and lashing out at New Delhi, despite India’s measured reaction. “So, what is it that the US wants from India?" he asked.
- Sep 17, 2025,
- Updated Sep 17, 2025 9:02 AM IST
What is it that the US wants from India, and what, in their view, comprises a “mutually beneficial relationship”, questioned former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal. India is not answerable to US President Donald Trump’s tantrums in any way, he said.
Responding to a column that said India and the US must have an ‘honest conversation on what they mean to each other’, Sibal said, “Not clear what an honest conversation between the US and India means. Does this imply that since 2005 ties between India and the US across four presidencies, including Trump’s first term, were based on dishonesty?”
Sibal blamed Trump and his administration for pushing India away, and lashing out at New Delhi, despite India’s measured reaction. “So, what is it that the US wants from India? What is the US definition of a mutually beneficial relationship? Has India said anything offensive in return? Let us not accept that we are answerable to Trump’s US in any way,” he said.
The said column, published in Hindustan Times, decoded the tug-of-war between Washington and New Delhi. The column was written by Happymon Jacob, founder and director of the Council for Strategic and Defense Research and the editor of INDIA’S WORLD magazine, who said there are “dramatically divergent views in New Delhi and DC on the state of the bilateral relationship”.
In the corridors of New Delhi, the blame has fallen squarely on Trump and his administration for damaging the relationship for no credible reason, while the people at Washington DC are of the view that India has not done enough to save the relationship.
The US does not see India through the China prism, he said. “For the India-US relations to get back on track, there must be more honest conversation between the two sides on what they mean to each other. But whether Trump has the patience for such elevated conversation is doubtful,” wrote Jacob in the column.
Trump barely is concerned about substance and is more about “symbolism and optics”, something India did not care about, he said. India is not a weak ally, dependent on the US, so it will not bend the knee, but it is also not as powerful as China to push back.
“The overwhelming sentiment is that India-US relations are strong enough to outlive Trump’s tantrums. However, unless corrective measures are taken soon and parties concerned on both sides attempt to steady the relationship, he will leave the relationship severely damaged,” said Jacob, adding that India cannot wait till Trump leaves office, and hence should deal with the US shaped by him, not one it is used to.
What is it that the US wants from India, and what, in their view, comprises a “mutually beneficial relationship”, questioned former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal. India is not answerable to US President Donald Trump’s tantrums in any way, he said.
Responding to a column that said India and the US must have an ‘honest conversation on what they mean to each other’, Sibal said, “Not clear what an honest conversation between the US and India means. Does this imply that since 2005 ties between India and the US across four presidencies, including Trump’s first term, were based on dishonesty?”
Sibal blamed Trump and his administration for pushing India away, and lashing out at New Delhi, despite India’s measured reaction. “So, what is it that the US wants from India? What is the US definition of a mutually beneficial relationship? Has India said anything offensive in return? Let us not accept that we are answerable to Trump’s US in any way,” he said.
The said column, published in Hindustan Times, decoded the tug-of-war between Washington and New Delhi. The column was written by Happymon Jacob, founder and director of the Council for Strategic and Defense Research and the editor of INDIA’S WORLD magazine, who said there are “dramatically divergent views in New Delhi and DC on the state of the bilateral relationship”.
In the corridors of New Delhi, the blame has fallen squarely on Trump and his administration for damaging the relationship for no credible reason, while the people at Washington DC are of the view that India has not done enough to save the relationship.
The US does not see India through the China prism, he said. “For the India-US relations to get back on track, there must be more honest conversation between the two sides on what they mean to each other. But whether Trump has the patience for such elevated conversation is doubtful,” wrote Jacob in the column.
Trump barely is concerned about substance and is more about “symbolism and optics”, something India did not care about, he said. India is not a weak ally, dependent on the US, so it will not bend the knee, but it is also not as powerful as China to push back.
“The overwhelming sentiment is that India-US relations are strong enough to outlive Trump’s tantrums. However, unless corrective measures are taken soon and parties concerned on both sides attempt to steady the relationship, he will leave the relationship severely damaged,” said Jacob, adding that India cannot wait till Trump leaves office, and hence should deal with the US shaped by him, not one it is used to.