Nikki Haley talks up US-India ties, says trade differences 'growing pains'

Nikki Haley, America's envoy to the United Nations and reputedly a confidante of President Donald Trump, said in New Delhi on Thursday that the last-minute postponement of a high-level US-India meeting did not reflect any tension or disagreement in the relation between the two countries.

 On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had called Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to postpone a "two-plus-two" meeting on unspecified grounds. The meeting, scheduled for July 6 in Washington, was between Pompeo, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

"The delay in that meeting was unrelated to India. The time and location are being rescheduled. It will happen soon. This is a sign of how much our defence and security have grown in recent years; a new level of strategic confidence in our partnership," said Haley.

This is the second time the "two-plus-two" meeting has been postponed. Initially planned for April, it was put off after Trump fired then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March and his successor, Pompeo, had to be confirmed by the US Congress.

 Hailing the two-plus-two dialogue as "a new milestone", Haley said, "(The US-India) relationship is stronger now, and the opportunities greater than they have ever been." 

 Pressing the right buttons on Pakistan, Haley said the Trump administration valued Pakistan as a partner, but it would never tolerate that country becoming a haven for terrorists.

 Haley took a swipe at China's One Belt One Road Initiative, saying that the project disrespected countries' sovereign rights. 

She contrasted that with India's vision for free trade in the Indo-Pacific, hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allusion to this in his speech on June 1 at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Downplaying trade disagreements as "growing pains", Haley pointed to the doubling of trade volumes over the recent years. She said: "The fact that we are talking about trade is a good thing… Where you have these many discussions, it means you have a lot in common. It means you're doing more business together. It means you're communicating more. And it means that you're going through the growing pains of doing that."

 Even so, there are growing trade disputes between Washington and New Delhi. After Trump hiked tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium, India raised import duties on US farm products last week.

Asked about US sanctions on Iran, which could create difficulties in India-Iran ties, Haley said India would face increased pressure to reduce dealings with Iran. 

"I did (talk about this) with Prime Minister Modi and… India recognises the threat from Iran. The US is going to continue to try and work with our partners, our friends and our allies to make sure that we are pushing Iran to be a good, accountable, international member," she said.

"We're going to keep the pressure on Iran and hope that other countries will join us because in our eyes Iran is the next North Korea," said Haley.

In remarks that will go down well in New Delhi after a report from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) slammed India's record in Kashmir, Haley explained why America walked out of the body.

 Sharply criticising the UNHRC, Haley said serial human rights violators, including Venezuela, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo, got into the Council to make sure they did not get called out for human rights. 

 "If the Human Rights Council doesn't do anything, why would the US give them credibility," asked Haley. "We will be our own human rights council. And we will continue to bring up the issues that we think are important."

 In an allusion to Haley's reported presidential ambitions, she was asked when would "a woman of Indian origin, a Republican, run for high office?" Unfazed, she replied” "What I can tell you is that a woman of Indian origin is trying to survive the job that she has now."

Haley, a second-generation American born to Sikh parents in North Carolina, visited a temple, a mosque, a gurdwara and a church earlier on Thursday.