 "Trump 'misplaced his hand' with India: Ex-Australian PM Abbott on steep US tariffs")
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday (October 17) that US President Donald Trump “misplaced his hand” with India by imposing tariffs.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2025, Abbott said the 21st century belongs to India, and decades from now, whichever leader heads the country could take the mantle of “leader of the free world” from the US president.
Abbott analysed India’s relations with the US, China, and Pakistan, saying only Delhi can check Beijing’s ambitions to “dominate the world.” “They want to be a hegemonic power… and this spells trouble for all of China’s neighbours, as well as the world,” he said. He added that India has three major advantages—democracy, the rule of law, and the English language—as it prepares for the economic and military rise China achieved decades ago.
“I am a supporter of President Trump, but I think he misplayed his hand with India recently when he imposed those punitive tariffs, particularly given there are other countries that are cheating here, especially China, that didn’t get the same kind of treatment,” Abbott said. He described the move as a “serious setback” but hoped it would be “temporary” and could be “remedied very quickly.”
Abbott also criticised the US for its historic tilt towards Pakistan. He said America’s core interests are better served by maintaining a strong partnership with India. “One of the big mistakes that America made during the Cold War was consistently tilting towards Pakistan, a military dictatorship, as opposed to India, a liberal democracy,” he said.
The US recently imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, including a 25% penalty on Russian energy purchases, citing concerns that such transactions fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine. India has maintained that its energy purchases are guided by market forces and national security needs, not geopolitical alignment.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAbbott’s comments come after Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him India would stop buying Russian oil, a claim India denied.
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