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Former United States National Security Advisor John Bolton has questioned the choice of Sergio Gor as the next US Ambassador to India, saying he does not consider him "qualified" for the role.
"I don't think he's qualified to be US Ambassador to India," Bolton told ANI. Speaking to ANI about India's purchase of Russian oil despite sanctions, Bolton explained that many countries took advantage of a gap in the sanctions framework. He said the sanctions aimed to reduce Russia's revenue that could be used to fund the war in Ukraine, without cutting Russian oil sales in a way that would drive up prices in Europe and the US. "The objective was to reduce Russian revenues that could fund the war in Ukraine, but not reduce the Russian sale of oil on global markets in a way that would increase prices to consumers in Europe and the United States and that obviously creates with a price cap, that obviously creates the possibility of arbitrage to buy from the Russians at the below the cap price and then sell it internationally at market prices. So I think many would argue that there was not even a technical violation of the sanctions," Bolton said. He stressed that the main focus should be to stop funding Russia's war effort. "The fundamental objective should be that we don't want to fuel the Russian war machine," he added. Earlier the former United States National Security Advisor said that India should treat US President Donald Trump as a "one-time proposition" and pursue its national interests without assuming his policies reflect the "larger American view". Speaking on India-US ties, Bolton told ANI, "I would say the relationship's still the same... The Government of India should look at Trump as a one-time proposition and deal with it and take whatever steps they believe are in Indian's national interest, but to understand it as peculiar to Trump and not reflecting some larger American view..." Bolton criticised Trump's foreign policy style, saying, "Trump doesn't have an overall national security strategy. He's very transactional. I think much of the tension between India and the US has been because of Trump's very erratic style." On trade frictions, Bolton pointed to tariffs on Indian energy purchases. "Although there are a number of concerns on the Indian side, the largest is the 25% tariff for Indian companies' purchases of Russian oil and gas over the past several years. This shows how erratic Trump can be because he has not sanctioned or tariffed Russia for violating the sanctions, nor has he sanctioned or tariffed China for violating the sanctions. China is a much bigger purchaser than India is and there are many other purchasers, Turkey, Pakistan, and others...," Bolton added, Bolton also dismissed recent remarks made by Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro against India. "Look, Peter doesn't know anything about world affairs. Really, he has a hard time distinguishing who America's friends are, who America's friends should be, and how you treat friends," he said. The former NSA added, "I like to say back from the first term, if you left Peter in a room alone for about an hour and came back, he'd be arguing with himself. So it's not the best form of diplomacy. And again, this is an aberration of the Trump administration. This is not a reflection of broader American opinion." Navarro has recently accused India of profiting from discounted Russian crude and claimed that Indian tariffs are "costing American jobs." He even went so far as to describe India as a "laundromat for the Kremlin" and made casteist remarks alleging that "Brahmins are profiteering" from the Russian oil trade. Bolton stressed that such language does not reflect US policy and should be seen as part of the Trump administration's unusual approach. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, despite earlier tensions, Trump praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him his "very good friend" and expressed optimism about resolving trade issues. "I am pleased to announce that India and the United States of America are continuing negotiations to address the trade barriers between our two nations. I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks. I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our great countries!" he wrote on Truth Social. (ANI)
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