Former US National Security Advisor (NSA) Susan Rice has praised India as a "proud and strong nation," warning that the nation could "go in a different direction" as a reaction to the Trump administration's policies—a movement she cautioned would be a "huge loss" to Washington.
Rice spoke earlier this week in an event sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, in which she contended that President Donald Trump's management of tensions between India and Pakistan taxed relations with New Delhi.
"It seems to be more about personal pique and the fact that when the President claimed credit for defusing the conflict between India and Pakistan, India didn't rush to embrace that narrative for reasons that many of us understand. And as a consequence, we now have seen India as a proud and strong nation saying, we're going to go in a different direction. That's a huge loss," Rice emphasised.
Her statement came on the back of improving relations between India and America. President Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and wished him on his 75th birthday.
Posting on X, Modi called Trump his "friend" and thanked him for the wish.
"Thank you, my friend, President Trump, for your phone call and warm greetings on my 75th birthday. Like you, I am also fully committed to taking the India-US Comprehensive and Global Partnership to new heights. We support your initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict," PM Modi wrote.
Trump, for his part, called their exchange on Truth Social a "wonderful" conversation, commending Modi's leadership.
“Just had a wonderful phone call with my friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I wished him a very Happy Birthday! He is doing a tremendous job. Narendra: Thank you for your support on ending the War between Russia and Ukraine! President DJT," he wrote.
The meeting coincided with trade talks in New Delhi, where US Assistant Trade Representative for the South and Central Asia region Brendan Lynch sat down with India's chief negotiator and Commerce Ministry Special Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. Both sides called the conversation "positive."
In spite of these recent overtures, Rice was still critical of the Trump administration's India policy, maintaining that it had "pushed" New Delhi towards Moscow and Beijing "within weeks.
“What was so striking about what happened at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was, among other things, India being pushed into or moving into, literally, a grasping of hands with Russia and China, with whom, not long ago, they were, at least with China, firing shots," she emphasised during the Washington event.
Her assessment follows remarks by Congresswoman Deborah Ross in an interview with IANS last week, where she called Prime Minister Modi’s visit to China a calculated step.
“I think it was actually a smart move for him to do that, because he showed that he has options,” she noted.
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