‘Bigger picture was lost’: Former NSA Bolton slams Trump’s tariffs on India; ‘didn’t sanction Russia, China but India’

US President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton has sharply criticised his decision to impose additional tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil.Bolton said, “Trump wanted to do was talk about trade. The bigger strategic picture was lost.”“I think he’s just done it again by sanctioning India for purchasing Russian oil and gas,” the former NSA added.Bolton further pointed out that while Trump imposed additional duties on India, he did not sanction China, which imports far more oil and gas from Russia, nor did he sanction Russia itself.“Didn’t sanction Russia. He didn’t sanction Russia, but sanctioned India and didn’t sanction China, which has significantly greater purchases of oil and gas than India did.”Bolton added, “All Trump wanted to do was talk about trade. The bigger strategic picture was lost.”He went on to give an example from Trump’s past, saying, “I think he’s fascinated by China. I tell the story in my book when Theresa May had him for lunch at Checkers. We were out there before the famous Helsinki summit and Trump got on to the subject of his 2017 visit to China. And he said to Theresa May, they gave me the biggest welcome that they have ever given any foreign leader in history. And you just sit there and say, what do you say after that?”“That’s what he’s looking for.”This was not the first time Bolton criticised Trump’s tariff decisions. Earlier this month, he wrote on social media platform X that these moves have weakened decades of Western efforts to distance India from its Cold War ties with Russia and to curb China’s rising influence.Donald Trump had earlier imposed a 25% tariff on Indian imports to US. However, he later doubled the duty by announcing an additional 25% tariff citing New Delhi’s purchase of oil from Russia, which he claimed was fueling Russia’s war machine against Ukraine.However, the US has still not sanctioned China, which is a major buyer of oil and gas from the country. Even though the US imposed massive tariffs on New Delhi, Washington itself continues to engage in trade with Russia, which is worth billions of dollars.During Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, he himself noted that the trade between the two nations jumped 20%.Despite a 90% reduction in US-Russia trade following Russia’s war with Ukraine, the United States continued to import goods worth $3 billion from Russia last year, as confirmed by data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Census Bureau quoted in a CNN report.Meanwhile, India called Washington’s tariff move ‘unfortunate’ and reiterated its stand to continue protecting its national interests.