Stronger India-US Ties Can Help Us Get 'Independence' From China: GOP Prez Candidate Ramaswamy

Republican US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that US-India ties can help the United States get independence from the China.

Ahead of the 2024 US Presidential election, Indian-American Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that strong ties with India can help the United States declare "independence" from China. He further called for strong strategic ties with New Delhi and a military relationship in the Andaman Sea, reported PTI. At 38, Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He is currently on a two-day swing to the crucial State of Iowa, where the Republican presidential primary season will begin on January 15, 2024. 

"A stronger US-India relationship could help the US declare independence from China. The US is economically dependent on China today, but with a stronger relationship with India, it becomes easier to declare independence from that Chinese relationship," Ramaswamy told PTI in an interview.

"The US should also have a stronger strategic relationship with India, including even a military relationship in the Andaman Sea. Knowing that India, if necessary, could block the Malacca Strait where actually China gets most of its Middle Eastern oil supplies. So, these are areas for real improvement in the US-India relationship," he added.

He told PTI that this would be good for the US and that’s exactly how he would lead. 

Ramaswamy is a second-generation Indian-American who founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products, the PTI report said. The report added that his polling numbers have gone up after the maiden presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 23.

Notably, China, the world's second-largest economy, remains the biggest source of imports into the US. Last year, the bilateral trade hit an all-time high of USD 690.6 billion, PTI reported citing US media reports.

It added that US imports from China reached USD 536.8 billion, accounting for about 17 per cent of its total imports whereas Exports to China were USD 154 billion which is 7.5 per cent of total US exports to the world.