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 US-India relations, Risch said Washington still wants closer ties with India. He also expressed skepticism about the revival in US-Pakistan relations after years of tension and said that the US would not want to interfere in India’s relations with Russia. However, Risch said Washington would also keep pressure on India with tariffs to stop purchases of Russian oil.
In an exclusive interview with HT, Risch said that despite confusion over tariffs, the US and India will be able to reach a deal after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s tariff ruling. Edited excerpts:
Question: Recently US-India trade agreement was signed. What is your opinion about this?
A: I’m very pleased to see this, because it has been a long-standing ambition of the United States to have better relations with India, the largest democracy on the planet and a population whose purchasing power is constantly increasing. And as a result of that, I think both countries can generally benefit greatly from trade. So I am optimistic in this regard. There are some specific things that interest me a lot. I understand for the first time that India has opened up the nuclear sector to the private sector through its government. And one of the reasons I’m interested in this is that Idaho, my home state, is the birthplace of nuclear energy in the universe. We have a national laboratory there. We built the first reactor in the early 1950s and we generated electricity there for the first time using nuclear energy. Since then, we have built 52 reactors. There, we have been the driving force between the SMR small modular reactor and the micro reactors that follow. Both of these will change the way electricity is delivered around the world.
I’m not as familiar with all parts of India, but when the small modular reactor hits the micro reactor, it will probably be quite helpful in some parts of India. That’s why we want to be there. We compete with the Chinese, Russians and French for nuclear reactors. We always like to put our plug in clearly. We believe we make the best and we have the reliability that is required to maintain a relationship for the period a reactor is installed. So with this, I think it will bring both the countries closer and improve trade relations.
Q: There is 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 on the other hand, tariffs provide something that a country wants. President Trump has been very active on tariffs. India has not been singled out to be affected by these tariffs as everyone has received them based on the trade relationship between the two countries. Tariffs are always a work in progress. They are always being adjusted. And there’s always a very delicate balance in imposing tariffs and adjusting tariffs and accepting tariffs. But I will say, over the years, we’ve gotten it to work, and when something doesn’t work, it can and will be adjusted. And I think the Supreme Court case, I think, has been very misunderstood. Most people look at this and say, oh, the Supreme Court struck down all these tariffs. They only eliminated a portion of a tariff. There’s a whole tariff regime that he’s left in place, and in fact, it’s now been confirmed that the President can use those tariffs. So if anything, it provides more stability to the use of tariffs. And there’s still more work to be done, but it will work itself out. And if you have two interested parties, which you have with the US and India, there is no reason why they cannot work on this.
Question: There has been a lot of tension in US-India relations. There are some differences on China, Russia and trade. There is now concern in India about how much the Americans want this partnership due to tensions. What is your opinion on this?
A: We want a relationship. If you look around the world, how many people live under democracy. Yours is the biggest. We certainly have a strong democracy. When you have democracy, you have a set of values ​​that put you on an equal footing. It is a different thing when you are dealing with a dictatorship or autocracy, a country in which there is no respect for human rights, a country where there is no rule of law. I’m talking about Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. We don’t do business with them. Their values ​​are not the same as ours, and we would much rather have relations with India, with people who share our values. So from that perspective, I can assure you that our desire to have a relationship is a strong desire.
You mentioned a few things that play a role in that. Number one, you mentioned our relations with China. Our relations with China are no secret. It is, at best, a competitive relationship. At worst, an adversarial relationship. We obviously want to treat China as best we can, but it will be a relationship that we will have to work on. Because we are different. We have different values, we have different rule of law. I think that’s going to be the mystery of the rest of the century, that we have to learn how to live with them. We have to take over the planet without killing each other. But we’re not going to change, and they’re not going to change, okay? Russia is a different ball game. The Russians are untouchable right now, and they have done and are doing terrible things to humans on this planet. And to be honest, we have differences with India on this matter.
Our belief, and I think it is a legitimate belief, is that when India buys oil from Russia, they are contributing to the war in Ukraine. This makes us sad. So there is a difference between us that is not an existential difference that destroys a relationship, but we need to recognize it as a difference, and we are not happy with it. But, again, as I say, this is not a breakdown of the relationship.
Question: We saw that America has imposed 25% tariff on buying Russian oil. Going forward, is America going to demand anything more from India on the question of Russia not buying arms from Moscow?
A: That’s a really good question. First of all, we can’t tell you where you buy your weapons. Number two, we recognize that you have older equipment that you need to have parts for. We got it. Having said that, I think going forward, India will be more interested in doing business with the United States which is much more stable than Russia, much more reliable than Russia, and we make much better weapons than Russia. So given this, we would hope that India would be willing to buy from us.
As far as oil tariffs are concerned, it will remain in place and we will continue to put pressure on India to realize that they can buy oil anywhere on the planet from countries that are not causing misery to human beings. Russia is there and therefore we do not apologize 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 tariffs on that again. It’s not existential to the relationship, but it makes a difference.
Question: There is concern in India too that the Trump administration is getting closer to Pakistan. You have called Pakistan a complex ally.
A: that’s an understatement. I don’t know that our relations with Pakistan are any different, and certainly not better than they have been for a long time. I understand that there has been a rivalry between Pakistan and India for a long time. I wouldn’t be too concerned about who America loves more, or anything like that. Look, we want to be with both of you and we hope that you both get along better than before. Obviously, this is between the two of you, but it wouldn’t be a choice we would want to make. But I can tell you that I do not think that our relationship with Pakistan is any different from the relationship we had the day before the first shot was fired in that conflict.
Question: What does the US want to do with India when it comes to dealing with the rise of China?
A: I think every relationship between the United States and India, and between us and our other allies in our neighborhood, will be different. We do not want to do anything that may worsen China’s condition to such an extent that it creates problems. We are going to do things that they don’t like. They’re going to do things we don’t like. But we have to move together. Of course, we are always looking for defense stability. If we can get a defense relationship, we want a defense relationship. We want India to use the weapons produced by us. We think we produce the best and most reliable, but that’s not all. Semiconductor technology is huge. Every relationship is going to be different. Whatever we can do that benefits both sides is what we want to do.
