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NEW DELHI: Former US national security advisor John Bolton has warned against any move towards a US-China “G2” framework. He said that it would amount to a “dangerous sidelining” of India at a time when Washington and New Delhi need closer strategic cooperation to counter China’s growing influence.His remarks came amid MAGA supremo Donald Trump‘s new “G2” framework that places the United States and China at the centre of the global order. However, Bolton rejected his former boss’s vision, referring to India’s growing importance.Speaking to news agency ANI, Former Trump aide rejected suggestions that the world is moving towards a US-China-led order and stressed that India must remain central to the Indo-Pacific strategy.“I think it’s a dangerous sidelining of India,” he said.Bolton argued that tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and along the Line of Actual Control highlight the scale of the challenge posed by Beijing, making stronger India-US ties increasingly important.“China’s aspirations for hegemony along the Indo-Pacific periphery are really one of the major issues, if not the major issue of the 21st century, which is why it seems to me that closer relations between India and the United States are so critical,” he said.The former Trump administration official also called for a deeper strategic dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump focused on China rather than trade disputes.“And what I really hope comes for the first time is a strategic discussion between Trump and Modi on how to deal with the Chinese threat. It always, in the past, in the first term and so far in Trump’s second term, gets lost in a discussion of trade issues,” he said.Bolton’s remarks came after PM Modi and Trump met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France. While he said the meeting did not appear to produce major deliverables, he described it as an important opportunity for the two leaders to reconnect.“Well, it’s not clear that very much constructive came out of it, any deliverables, as they say, but I do think it was important for Trump and Modi to meet again. Trump has always believed he has a good personal relationship with Modi, and I am hoping that the trade issues, the tariff issues, can be put behind us,” Bolton said.He also criticised Trump’s tariff policy, saying it had been unfairly applied to India and risked distracting both countries from broader strategic concerns.“I personally am opposed to Trump’s tariff program. I think it’s a big mistake around the world. From the US perspective, it’s been particularly unfairly applied to India, much more so than to China,” he said.Bolton further advocated a stronger role for the Quad grouping comprising India, the United States, Japan and Australia, saying cooperation should go beyond diplomacy and include intelligence-sharing, military coordination and broader security engagement.“We either address it together, or we’re going to have to address it separately, which is not ideal,” he said.
