U.S. President Donald Trump’s South Asia policy is straining U.S.-India relations due to key strategic contradictions, according to a report in The Eurasian Times. Despite publicly promoting India as a crucial partner in the Indo-Pacific, Trump’s recent actions appear to undermine New Delhi’s core interests.

Imran Khurshid, Associate Research Fellow at the International Centre for Peace Studies (ICPS), wrote that Trump’s support for Pakistan—including hosting Army Chief General Asim Munir at the White House and backing an IMF bailout during India’s Operation Sindoor—has emboldened Islamabad. These moves, he argued, have allowed Pakistan to act aggressively toward India both militarily and diplomatically.

Khurshid warned that such actions erode mutual trust and contradict the U.S.’s stated goal of treating India as an autonomous strategic partner. He criticized Trump’s “binary and fragmented” regional approach, urging Washington to adopt an integrated strategy that strengthens India’s regional position.

The report highlighted that previous U.S. presidents like Clinton, Bush, and Obama respected India’s red lines—especially on Kashmir—and avoided viewing India through a Pakistan-centric lens. In contrast, Trump’s transactional foreign policy, driven by tariffs, trade deficits, and personal ego, has unsettled Indian policymakers.

The damage intensified with Trump’s recent imposition of a 25% tariff on Indian goods and threats of secondary sanctions tied to India’s continued defence and energy ties with Russia. These steps, Khurshid argued, jeopardize both bilateral diplomacy and America’s long-term Indo-Pacific strategy.

“If this continues,” he warned, “America may not just lose India as a partner — it may lose its global leadership.”