The Trump administration has unveiled a radically reoriented US foreign policy blueprint that significantly alters Washington's approach towards India and the world. The 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), released on Friday, seeks India's cooperation to prevent domination by a "single competitor nation"—a clear reference to China—while simultaneously pursuing economic policies that critics argue harm New Delhi's interests.
A Generational Shift in US Foreign Policy
The 29-page document represents the most significant reorientation of American foreign policy in decades. It explicitly rejects the bipartisan internationalist framework that guided Washington since the Cold War's end. Gone are the traditional emphases on alliances, trade liberalisation, and multilateralism. The report dismisses these as the misguided work of "our elites," who allegedly burdened Americans by letting allies "offload the cost of their defence onto the American people."
In its place, the strategy advocates for a hard pivot toward unilateral action, economic nationalism, and an uncompromising focus on core interests: sovereignty, homeland defence, self-reliance, and domestic industrial strength. The aspirational language of promoting democracy or global stewardship is absent, replaced by an isolationist and highly transactional framework.
India's New Role: From Strategic Partner to Managed Challenge
For India, the change in tone is particularly stark. The country is mentioned four times in the report, including a discredited claim about former President Trump brokering a truce in a war with Pakistan. Broadly, the NSS reframes India not as a strategic partner, but as a diplomatic challenge to be managed. This marks a departure even from the first Trump administration's view.
The strategy states 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 Quad')." However, this outlook is prefaced with a blunt assertion that America must work with allies to "safeguard our prime position in the world economy."
This comes at a time when the Trump administration has imposed punitive tariffs on Indian goods and shown indulgence towards Pakistan, actions seen as attrition against India's security and economy. The report also suggests enlisting India, along with European and Asian allies, to secure critical mineral resources in Africa, using Western "comparative advantages in finance and technology"—advantages many analysts say the US is actively undermining for India.
Internal Criticism and the End of an Era
The NSS has drawn criticism from both sides of the American political spectrum. While Trump critics expectedly panned it, MAGA nativists pointed out its "zero mention of the threat Islamic terrorism poses." Europeanists noted the report accused only Europe of "anti-democratic" policies while ignoring authoritarian regimes like China, Russia, and Iran.
One point of consensus is that the 2025 NSS clearly signals the end of the US "shouldering the world's burdens." The document frames this as a "necessary, welcome correction," advocating for a foreign policy of withdrawal wrapped in the language of national resurrection. It asserts the US will now march to its own tune, even if that tune is out of sync with traditional allies and partners it now seemingly views as vassal states.
The strategy's implications for India are profound. Instead of cultivating New Delhi as a counterweight to China through shared values and long-term alignment, the new approach positions India as a participant whose contributions must be coaxed in a transactional manner, against a backdrop of punitive economic measures.
