US must continue to improve commercial, other ties with India: Trump's security strategy

New York, Dec 5 (PTI) The US must continue to improve commercial and other relations with India to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, including through continued cooperation within the Quad grouping, the Trump administration has said.

The ‘National Security Strategy of the United States of America’ released by the Trump administration late Thursday describes and builds upon the “extraordinary strides" America has made.  The document also stressed on strong cooperation with India to address the security challenge in the South China Sea.

"This document is a roadmap to ensure that America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history, and the home of freedom on Earth. In the years ahead, we will continue to develop every dimension of our national strength - and we will make America safer, richer, freer, greater and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said in his message in the National Security Strategy.

The National Security Strategy stresses that the US "must continue to improve commercial (and other) relations with India to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, including through continued quadrilateral cooperation with Australia, Japan, and the United States,” the grouping known as Quad.

"Moreover, we will also work to align the actions of our allies and partners with our joint interest in preventing domination by any single competitor nation,” it said.

It also underlines the need to work with America's European and Asian allies and partners, including India, to cement and improve Washington’s joint positions in the Western Hemisphere.

The document noted that Trump’s May 2025 state visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates demonstrated the power and appeal of American technology.  “There, the President won the Gulf States’ support for America's superior AI technology, deepening our partnerships. America should similarly enlist our European and Asian allies and partners, including India, to cement and improve our joint positions in the Western Hemisphere and, with regard to critical minerals, in Africa,” it said.

“We should form coalitions that use our comparative advantages in finance and technology to build export markets with cooperating countries. America’s economic partners should no longer expect to earn income from the United States through overcapacity and structural imbalances but instead pursue growth through managed cooperation tied to strategic alignment and by receiving long-term US investment,” it said.

The National Security Strategy further said that a security challenge is the potential for any competitor to control the South China Sea.

“This could allow a potentially hostile power to impose a toll system over one of the world’s most vital lanes of commerce or -- worse -- to close and reopen it at will. Either of those two outcomes would be harmful to the US economy and broader US interests," it said.

It said that strong measures must be developed along with the deterrence necessary to keep those lanes open, free of “tolls,” and not subject to arbitrary closure by one country.

"This will require not just further investment in our military -- especially naval -- capabilities, but also strong cooperation with every nation that stands to suffer, from India to Japan and beyond, if this problem is not addressed,” it said.

The document also mentions the eight wars that Trump claims he has resolved, including the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

“President Trump has cemented his legacy as The President of Peace. In addition to the remarkable success achieved during his first term with the historic Abraham Accords, President Trump has leveraged his dealmaking ability to secure unprecedented peace in eight conflicts throughout the world over the course of just eight months of his second term.

"He negotiated peace between Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the DRC and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and ended the war in Gaza with all living hostages returned to their families,” it added. PTI YAS ZH ZH