‘Pushed PM Modi closer to China…alternative to US’: John Bolton fires fresh salvo at Donald Trump over 50% tariffs

John Bolton yet again slammed Donald Trump for tariffs that he claims have damaged US-India relations, pushing PM Narendra Modi closer to Russia and China.

Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has once again criticised his ex-boss, saying the Donald Trump administration has “set US-India relations back decades, pushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi closer to Russia and China”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. (REUTERS)

John Bolton added that China has cast itself as an alternative to both the United States and Donald Trump.

New Delhi is facing global uncertainties due to heightened economic tensions following the US imposition of a 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports, including an additional 25 per cent because of its purchase of Russian crude oil, which, according to Washington, fuels Moscow's efforts in its conflict with Ukraine.

“The White House has set U.S.-India relations back decades, pushing Modi closer to Russia and China. Beijing has cast itself as an alternative to the U.S. and Donald Trump,” Bolton said in a post on social media platform X accompanying his interview with LBC.

The remarks come as ties between New Delhi and Washington are experiencing one of their worst phases in over two decades.

Bolton’s remarks also coincided with the SCO Summit 2025 in China where President Xi Jinping hosted more than 20 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and PM Narendra Modi. The summit has fuelled concerns of an emerging axis against the US, triggered by Trump’s sweeping tariffs on multiple countries.

Bolton, who served as NSA during Trump’s first term, said the president had a very good personal relationship with Modi, but “that's gone now”, cautioning that close ties with the American leader "won't protect" world leaders from the “worst”.

“I think Trump sees international relations through the prism of his personal relations with leaders. So if he has a good relationship with Vladimir Putin, the US has a good relationship with Russia. That's obviously not the case,” Bolton said in the interview with the British media portal.

“Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that's gone now, and it's a lesson to everybody, for example, (UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer, that a good personal relationship may help at times, but it won't protect you from the worst,” he added.

Trump is scheduled to visit the UK from September 17 to 19.

The ex-NSA said Trump's treatment of New Delhi over the past several months has undermined years of bipartisan US efforts to wean India away from its Cold War alignment with Russia and to ensure Indian policymakers across the spectrum recognise China as their principal security challenge.

“That has been reversed. I think it can be reversed again, but it's a very bad moment," he said.

Bolton has been taking aim at the US president for imposing an unprecedented 25 per cent tariff on India imports for its purchase of Russian oil. According to Bolton, the move may have pushed New Delhi closer to the Beijing-Moscow axis, describing it as an “unforced error”.

Bolton's criticism comes even as his Maryland home and Washington office were recently searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a criminal probe into the alleged mishandling of classified material.