'Strong ties with India is the best gift, get it right': Top adviser to Trump 

Day after US President Donald Trump slapped fresh tariffs on India, Richard Rossow, a senior adviser at CSIS, suggested that Washington should not risk breaking the relationship with New Delhi.

"Strong strategic/commercial ties with India is the best gift American leaders can bring future generations," Rossow said in a post on X. "We won't agree on every issue, but India will forever have the world's largest population, will be one of three global economies, and massive military power. Let’s get this right."

Rossow's remarks come just a day after Trump slapped an additional 25 per cent duty - doubling it to 50 per cent - on Indian goods over India's continued imports of Russian oil. In a separate article for CSIS, Rossow discussed how the Trump administration's push for unreasonable thresholds on agricultural market access could erode the trust between the U.S. and India. 

"In an effort to push India to cross unreasonable thresholds on agriculture market access, the Trump administration is depleting the reservoir of trust that both nations have painstakingly built over a generation," he noted. 

The senior advisor further criticised the U.S. administration's handling of India, particularly after the India-Pakistan conflict and the pressure on India to reduce its energy purchases from Russia. "The bizarre engagements with Pakistan after the India-Pakistan conflict, as well as new verbal pressure on India over Russian energy purchases, have stoked India’s age-old concerns about the reliability of the United States as a partner," he wrote.

While the U.S. has imposed the highest tariffs on India, other countries such as China and Turkey, which are also buyers of Russian oil, have faced lower penalties. This inconsistency has raised questions about fairness, particularly as the European Union remains the largest buyer of Russian gas.

Krystle Kaur, NATO advisor, echoed similar concerns, stating, "I want to say that I am extremely disappointed in Donald Trump and this decision. I think placing 50 percent on India is detrimental to not just trade between the two countries but the overall relation, especially when it has taken a long time to create."

Rossow believes that focusing on the shared strategic and commercial interests of India and the U.S. is essential for ensuring a prosperous and secure future. "Let’s get this right," he said, urging American leaders to recognize the importance of their relationship with India.