United States Senator Jim Risch, who leads the influential Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the US-India trade deal, particularly for its opportunities in the nuclear sector. Despite tensions in the US- India relationship, Risch said Washington still wants a close relationship with India. He also expressed scepticism about a revival in US-Pakistan ties after years of tensions and stated that America would not seek to interfere in India’s relations with Russia. However, Risch stated that Washington will keep pressure up on India, even with tariffs, to prevent the purchase of Russian oil.
In an exclusive interview with HT, Risch said despite the confusion over tariffs after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, the US and India will be able to hammer out an agreement. Edited excerpts:
Q: The US-India trade agreement was done recently. What’s your opinion about it?
A: I was very pleased to see it, because it has long been the ambition for the United States to have a better relationship with India, the largest democracy on the planet and a population that continues to grow in purchasing power. And as a result of that, I think both countries can usually benefit considerably from trade. So I’m optimistic in that regard. There’s some specific things that I’m very interested in. I understand for the first time that India has, through its government, opened up the nuclear sector to the private sector. And one of the reasons I’m interested in that is that Idaho, my home state, is the birthplace of nuclear energy in the universe. We have a national lab over there. We built the first reactor in the early 1950s and we generated electricity for the first time using nuclear power there. Since then, we have built 52 reactors. There, we have been the driving force between the SMR small modular reactor and coming behind it, the micro reactor. Both of those are going to change the way that electricity is delivered around the world.
I am not that familiar with all parts of India, but when the small modular reactor hits the micro reactor, it is probably going to be quite helpful in parts of India. So we want to be there. We compete with the Chinese, the Russians and the French, for nuclear reactors. We always like to obviously plug ours. We think we make the best ones and have the reliability that needs to have a relationship for the length of time that a reactor is in, is in place. So with that, I think it will bring the two countries closer together and improve trade relationships.
Q: There’s some uncertainty in doing business with the US these days, especially on tariffs. We saw the Supreme Court strike down President Trump’s tariffs.
A: First of all, nobody likes tariffs. And the tariffs, on the other hand, do provide certain things that a country may want. President Trump has been very active with tariffs. India hasn’t been chosen to be hit with these tariffs because everybody got them based on the trade relationship between the two countries. Tariffs are always a work in progress. They’re always being adjusted. And in placing tariffs and adjusting tariffs and accepting tariffs is always a very delicate balance. But I would say, over the years, we’ve made it work, and when something doesn’t work, it can be and will be adjusted. And I feel that way with this, the Supreme Court case, I think, is greatly misunderstood. Most people look at that and say, Oh, the Supreme Court struck down all these tariffs. They only struck down one part of one tariff. There’s a whole tariff regime that they left in place, and indeed, now has confirmed that the President can use those tariffs. So if anything, it’s given more stability, if you would, to the use of tariffs. And there’s more work to be done, but it’s going to work itself out. And if you have two willing parties, which you do have with the US and India, there’s no reason they can’t work it out.
Q: There have been significant tensions in the US-India relationship. There are some divergences on China, Russia and trade. There is also concern in India now about how much the Americans want this partnership because of the tensions that have crept in. What’s your take on that?
A: We want the relationship. If you look around the world, how many people live under democracies. Yours is the largest. We certainly have a robust democracy. When you have a democracy, you have a set of values that puts you at the same level. It’s different when you’re dealing with a dictatorship or an autocracy, a country that has no respect for human rights, a country that has no rule of law. I’m talking about Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. We don’t do business with those people. Their values aren’t the same as ours, and we would much rather have a relationship with India, with people that share our values. So from that standpoint, I can assure you that our desire to have a relationship is a strong desire.
You mentioned a few things that play into that. Number one, you mentioned our relationship with China. Our relationship with China is no secret. It is, at best, a competitive relationship. At worst, an adversarial relationship. We obviously want to get along with China as best we can, but it is going to be a relationship that we’re going to have to work at. Because we’re different. We have different values, we have a different rule of law. I think that that’s going to be the secret of the rest of the century, that we’ve got to learn how to get along with them. We’ve got to occupy the planet without killing each other. But we’re not going to change, and they’re not going to change, right? Russia is a different ball-game. Russia is right now a pariah, and they have done and are doing terrible things to the human beings on this planet. And frankly, we have a difference with India on that.
Our belief, and I think it’s a legitimate belief, is that when India buys oil from Russia, that they are contributing to the war in Ukraine. That causes us grief. So we have a difference there that is not an existential difference that destroys a relationship, but we need to recognise it as a difference, and we’re not happy about it. But that, again, like I say, that is not relationship shattering.
Q: We saw America place a 25% tariff for buying Russian oil. Going forward, is America going to ask for more from India on the question of Russia not buying weapons from Moscow?
A: That’s a really good question. First of all, we can’t tell you where you buy your weaponry from. Number two, we recognise that you have legacy equipment that you have to have parts for. We get that. Having said that, going forward, I would think India would be much more interested in doing business with the United States which is much more stable than Russia, much more reliable than Russia, and we produce a whole lot better weapons than Russia does. So given that, we would hope that India would look to us to buy.
As far as the oil tariffs are concerned, that’s going to stay in place, and we’re going to continue to try and pressure India to realise that they can buy oil anywhere on the planet from countries that are not causing the grief to human beings. Russia is and so we don’t apologise for that. We think you’re doing the wrong thing. But if you’re going to do the wrong thing, we’re going to put a tariff on it to go forward again. That’s not existential to the relationship, but it is a difference.
Q: There’s also concern in India that the Trump administration is getting closer to Pakistan.You’ve called Pakistan a complicated ally.
A: That’s an understatement. I don’t know that our relationship with Pakistan is any different, and certainly not any better than it’s been for a long time. I understand that there’s been this long standing rivalry between Pakistan and India. I wouldn’t fret as much over who the US loves more, or anything like that. Look, we want to get along with both of you, and we hope that the two of you get along better than you have in the past. That’s been between you both, obviously, but that wouldn’t be a choice that we would want to get into making. But I can tell you that I don’t think our relationship with Pakistan is any different from what it was the day before the first bullet was fired in that conflict.
Q: What is America looking to do with India when it comes to dealing with the rise of China?
A: I think every relationship is going to be different between the US and India and between us and our other allies that are in the neighbourhood. We don’t want to do anything such that it aggravates China to the point that there’s a problem. We’re going to do things they don’t like. They’re going to do things we don’t like. But we need to get along. Certainly, we’re always looking for defence stability. If we can get a defence relationship, we want a defence relationship. We want India to be using the weapons that we produce. We think we produce the best and the most reliable, but that isn’t all of it. Semiconductor technology is huge. Every relationship is going to be different. Whatever we can do that benefits both parties is what we want to do.