Donald Trump and Mike Waltz (archive photo)

TOI correspondent from Washington:Mike Waltza decorated combat veteran turned lawmaker and China hawk, who also co-chairs the India caucus on the Hill and has proposed a formal alliance with India, will be Donald Trump’s national security adviser. The newly elected US president has also targeted Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, in a sign that he will entrust policymaking and implementation to elected loyalists in instead of the so-called ‘loyalists’. deep state,” which is anathema to the MAGA base.
Trump has made no formal announcement other than posting that he plans to nominate Elise Stefanik, another lawmaker, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the MAGAsphere is abuzz with celebration over the leaks from the elected’s inner circle president about favoring hardliners over the mainstream. Veterans of the Republican establishment who have long dominated policy in Washington DC.
Waltz, 50, a former Green Beret who served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, is particularly tough on China and Iran, with a strong counter-terrorism view, having served as CT czar for them US Vice President Dick Cheney – a Trump bit -noire. Curiously, at a time when he wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan, Trump also opposed withdrawing troops without strict conditions, including demanding a statement from the director of national intelligence that the Taliban would not associate with Al Qaeda.
More strikingly for New Delhi, Waltz is a staunch supporter of a formal US-India alliance, which India is wary of, in accordance with the broad principle that “it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal. ” In a 2021 op-ed co-authored with Nikki Haley, Waltz called for prioritizing relationships that strengthen the U.S. position in the world, saying, “The place to start is India. It’s time to form an alliance.”
“As a nuclear power with more than 1 million troops, a growing Navy, a top-tier space program and a proven history of economic and military cooperation with the United States, India would be a strong ally. An alliance with India would allow both countries to maintain and expand their global strength. And together with Japan and Australia, it would allow the United States to build a real deterrent against potential terrorist threats in Afghanistan and counter China,” they wrote. Waltz also co-chairs the Space Force caucus on the Hill.
Waltz and Haley made a strong case for a US-India alliance, pointing out that India operates Farkhor Air Base in Tajikistan, leaving it the only air base in close proximity to conduct counter-terrorism strikes in Afghanistan, and argued that India with an alliance Give Washington access to strategic bases to protect the US. interests in Afghanistan and the broader region.
“We now only have one partner who can effectively monitor Afghanistan. It is the same partner that can keep an eye on China’s southern flank: India,” they wrote, adding that
“The US-India alliance would also give us an edge over China.”
“Like the United States, India recognizes that China poses a rapidly growing threat. Not only is it trying to take advantage of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, which goes against the interests of both the United States and India, China is also putting pressure on India on its own borders. they said.
The duo also warned that increasing cooperation between China and Pakistan poses serious security risks for both India and the United States. “For India, an American alliance would be a bulwark against a two-front conflict on its borders. For the United States, an alliance would help blunt the influence of Pakistan — a state sponsor of terrorism now backed by Chinese investment — in Afghanistan. We need a new partner to prevent the creation of a terrorist superstate that could attack our country again,” they said.
Beyond the strategic and military sphere, Waltz and Haley also cited economic imperatives – some of which do not fit with MAGA thinking – in seeking and “upgrading” the current partnership to a formal alliance. Arguing that the US and India also share economic concerns, including the need for a stable supply chain, they said India’s huge labor force presents an opportunity for the US to change its supply chain dependence on China.
“We can rely on India to be a major source of pharmaceuticals, technology and critical minerals, complementing our own domestic manufacturing capabilities,” they wrote, despite MAGA’s hardline philosophy of isolationism and not trusting any country.
Trump’s future secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is also a hardliner on China and a national security hawk whose belligerence is testing Trump’s deal-making proclivity — and the losses to the U.S. military will state. Despite their past tough stance on various national security issues, both Waltz and Rubio are expected to submit to the MAGA supremo starting January 20, 2025 in what will virtually be an imperial court at the White House.