Jake Sullivan said that the US President’s move to closer ties with Pakistan over India “is one of the more under-reported stories in Trump’s foreign policy”.
Former US National Security Advisor (NSA) and attorney Jake Sullivan recently hit out at President Donald Trump and accused him of throwing away ties with India over his family’s business deals in Pakistan.
Sullivan, a former official from the Joe Biden administration, said that the move to sacrifice the relationship with India is a “huge strategic harm” in the US’s own right.
In an interview with MeidasTouch YouTube channel, the former NSA was asked about the ongoing row over America’s trade deal with India, and about Trump’s repeated claims about resolving the India-Pakistan conflict, which occurred after the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
The channel’s host, in his question, also mentioned the Trump family’s Bitcoin business with Pakistan and Tim Cook’s Apple factories in India.
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“I think this is one of the more under-reported stories in Trump’s foreign policy, and I’m really glad that you raised it,” Sullivan said.
He further said that the US has worked to build its relationship with India, “the world’s largest democracy,” on a bipartisan basis for decades, adding that it is “a country that we should be aligned with on technology, talent, economics, and so many other issues, and aligned with in dealing with the strategic threat from China”.
“Donald Trump has thrown the relationship with India away. Germany or Japan will look at India and say that could be us tomorrow. America’s friends will think that they can’t rely on us in any way,” says former U.S. NSA Jake Sullivan pic.twitter.com/rZ9tJ0tgZH
— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) September 1, 2025
‘Thrown India relationship on the side’
Sullivan noted how the US had come a long way in building these ties with India.
“And now, in no small part, I think because of Pakistan’s willingness to do business deals with the Trump family, he has thrown the India relationship over the side. That is a huge strategic harm in its own right because a strong US-India relationship serves our interests,” Sullivan added.
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He emphasised that due to this, every other country in the world, Germany, Japan or Canada, will look at the situation and say “that could be us tomorrow”.
“And that only reinforces your view that you’ve got to hedge against the United States,” the former NSA added.
Sullivan said that having America’s friends and other countries around the world decide that they cannot rely on the US in any way, shape, or form is not in the interest of the American people in the long term.
“Our word should be our bond. We should be good for what we say. Our friends should be able to rely on us, and that has always been our strength. And what’s happening with India right now has huge direct impacts. But it also has this reverberating impact across all our relationships and partnerships in the world,” Sullivan noted.
Trump & Pakistan
Earlier in April, the World Liberty (WFL) officially signed a series of agreements with the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) to promote investment and innovation in the crypto industry.
WLF, a decentralised finance platform, is backed by Trump to advance cryptocurrency applications and bolster blockchain adoption. Trump and his affiliates hold a 60 per cent stake in WLF, which was launched in 2024.
A US delegation at the agreement signing ceremony included WLF co-chairman and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff’s son, Zachary Witkoff.
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In June, the Pakistan army had said that Field Marshal Asim Munir and US President Donald Trump discussed trade, economic development, and cryptocurrency during their meeting at the White House.
“President Trump expressed keen interest in forging a mutually beneficial trade partnership with Pakistan based on long-term strategic convergence and shared interests,” the army reportedly said in a statement.
Then, in July, Trump announced a trade deal with Pakistan while threatening 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. He said that Washington would help Islamabad develop its “massive oil reserves”.
“We have just concluded a deal with the country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive oil reserves,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for the “historic” trade agreement and expressed hope that it would expand cooperation between the two countries.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
