In Washington, Florida House Representative Michael Waltz, a colonel in the US Army National Guard, has been appointed as President-elect Donald Trump’s national security advisor (NSA).
Waltz, co-chair of the House India caucus and one of the most vocally anti-Chinese members of the US Congress, has been a major advocate of the US-India strategic partnership, even advocating for a formal security alliance with India. He has emphasized the economic similarities between the US and India, drawn attention to the threat China posed to India, and cautioned against the China-Pakistan axis as a concern to both countries.
The 50-year-old Waltz had co-led a congressional delegation to India the previous year. On August 15, 2023, he attended the Independence Day ceremonies at Red Fort, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to his delegation.
On Monday night Eastern time, the Wall Street Journal broke the story of Waltz’s nomination, and other American media sites later verified it.
Waltz has been an ardent supporter of Donald Trump. Saying, “Under President Trump, we defeated ISIS, broke Iran, stood with Israel, always stood with our allies, and made China pay,” Waltz criticized President Joe Biden’s national security record at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee this July.
A China hawk, an experienced professional
As a member of the US Army Special Forces, Waltz is the first Green Beret to hold a congressional position. In Afghanistan, he participated in battle. At the conclusion of Trump’s first term, Waltz’s wife, Julia Nesheiwat, served as his homeland security advisor.
Many people believe that Waltz’s influence on Trump’s stance on the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan marked a sea change in the public’s perception of Biden’s national security performance, since his approval ratings never fully recovered from that August 2021 moment.
Waltz spoke extensively during his prime speaking slot at the RNC about presenting Trump to the relatives of the servicemen slain during the pullout.
Waltz, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee, was a policy director in the Pentagon under Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld. To challenge Beijing, he is also a member of the House Task Force on China, which has put up several suggestions in a variety of fields. Waltz has supported two pieces of legislation: one to safeguard American institutions from Chinese spying, and another to lessen reliance on China for vital minerals.
Waltz’s opinions on China are revealed in a March 2021 article he co-wrote with Republican elder and former House speaker Newt Gingrich, which called for the Winter Olympics to be held outside of China entirely.
On China’s role during COVID-19, Waltz noted, “The CCP lied about, covered up, and silenced doctors and journalists about the emergence of COVID-19. It was the CCP’s deceit, self-interest, and irresponsibility that caused the virus to be unleashed on the world.” He complained against China’s human rights record, saying, “The [ruling] CCP [Chinese Communist Party] has imprisoned up to 1.8 million Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in internment camps in Xinjiang…The extent of these atrocities is irrefutable, and America’s position on this devastating issue is clear. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined the CCP is committing genocide in Xinjiang – and the new secretary of state, Tony Blinken, agreed with this determination.”
In addition to working to “stamp out religion in China and ‘Sinicize’ religious doctrine,” Waltz blasted China for having “eliminated Hong Kong’s autonomy.” Members of the congregation, nuns, and church leaders have all been taken into custody. While some churches have been demolished, crosses have been taken down from others. There are now portraits of Xi Jinping in place of religious decorations. Along with censors removing “Jesus” and “Christ” from religious publications, Bible sales have been prohibited.
In another article published in May 2020, Waltz vehemently denounced Chinese “mass infiltration and theft of American research” at US colleges and universities, providing background for his legislation centered on higher education.
The Chinese government is stealing this data so they can use it against us in the future. In addition to stealing our research and development, the Chinese government is also utilizing our colleges as platforms to spread its propaganda and covertly present China’s ascent as peaceful and benign. Waltz writes, “The Chinese Communist Party has built more than 100 state-sponsored Confucius Institutes on college campuses in order to achieve this. “The American taxpayers’ money should not be used to enable China to cheat its way to the top.”
An appeal to forge a formal partnership with India
Seeing Washington DC’s alliance with New Delhi primarily through the lens of their mutual competition with Beijing, Waltz is one of India’s most ardent allies on Capitol Hill.
Waltz urged the US to formally join an alliance with India in an October 2021 article in Foreign Policy magazine, which was co-authored by Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the UN and Trump’s eventual presidential primary opponent. Although India has made it apparent that it is not looking for an alliance, the piece is valuable since it shows Waltz’s perspective on India.
In those days, Waltz stated that the United States should “prioritize relationships that strengthen our standing in the world,” with India being “the place to start.” It’s time to join forces. A nuclear power with over a million soldiers, a developing navy, a top-tier space program, and a track record of military and economic collaboration with the US, India would be a valuable ally. Maintaining and growing their global power would be possible for both nations through an alliance with India. Two months following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Waltz stated, “And it would enable the United States to counter China and form a real deterrent to potential terrorist threats in Afghanistan along with Japan and Australia.”
A US-India alliance would also provide America an advantage over China, according to Waltz (and Haley), who also noted that India, like the US, recognized China as a quickly expanding threat. “A US-India alliance would give China pause before further expanding into Central and Southern Asia,” they said after providing specifics of the 2020 India-China border battles.
Additionally, an alliance would acknowledge the changing geopolitical landscape of the region. It is no coincidence that China has adopted a more assertive stance toward India. It is a component of a larger scheme. Pakistan, India’s traditional adversary, has strengthened its support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), giving it more confidence. Waltz co-wrote, “China now has a regional client state ready to follow the CCP’s lead and support its global image. Growing collusion between China and Pakistan poses serious security risks for both India and the United States,” expanding on the idea of a China-Pakistan axis, which is a major concern for Indian security planners. India would be protected from a two-fronted warfare on its borders by a US alliance. An alliance would assist the United States in reducing the power of Pakistan in Afghanistan, a state sponsor of terrorism that is currently supported by Chinese investments. To stop the emergence of a terrorist superstate that could launch another attack on our nation, we require a new ally.
Waltz added that a partnership of this kind can lessen reliance and support safe supply chains. We can rely on India as a significant supplier of technology, essential minerals, and pharmaceuticals to support our own domestic production capacity. Working toward a more comprehensive trade agreement between the US and India should also continue.
“A formal alliance will build on the work done by the Trump administration in deepening ties,” he said, emphasizing the significance of improving cybersecurity collaboration between the two nations. “A US-India partnership has several advantages. Furthermore, we have a lot of values in common. In an increasingly authoritarian world, we can better protect freedom if we formally join the biggest and most powerful democracies in the world.
Waltz asserted that although the United States’ current diplomatic relationship with India was characterized as a strategic partnership, the country did the same things it did with its friends. “We desperately need an improvement. A partnership with India would help ensure our security in the twenty-first century, much like our partnerships with South Korea, Japan, and NATO revolutionized US security in the twentieth. Time to put that into action.
As co-chair of the House India Caucus alongside Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna, Waltz has engaged with India in a variety of ways.
During Modi’s state visit to the US in June 2023, Waltz tweeted, “Our shared democratic values and national security interests bind the US and India together.” Simplifying military sales to support both of our countries in enhancing Indo-Pacific security is obvious.
“As the world’s largest democracy & ally in our global competition with China, India’s strength is essential to our national security,” he stated, referring to the cooperation as the most consequential of the twenty-first century.
In addition to joining the first US Congressional delegation to attend the Independence Day festivities, Waltz visited with Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and other high-ranking Indian officials in Delhi in August 2023.
Read Also: Shah Rukh Khan Death Threat: Mumbai Police Arrest Lawyer Faizan Khan In Raipur
