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Trump picks Mike Waltz, China hawk, House India caucus co-chair, as NSA

Nov 12, 2024 08:53 AM IST

Waltz is one of India’s strongest supporters on Capitol Hill, viewing Washington DC’s partnership with New Delhi largely through the prism of their shared rivalry with Beijing

Washington: President-elect Donald Trump has picked Michael Waltz, a House representative from Florida and a colonel in the US Army National Guard, as his national security advisor (NSA).

Michael Waltz is a House representative from Florida and a colonel in the US Army National Guard. (AP)
Michael Waltz is a House representative from Florida and a colonel in the US Army National Guard. (AP)

Among the most staunchly critical voices on China in the US Congress, Waltz is the co-chair of the House India caucus and has been strongly supportive of the US-India strategic partnership, even calling for a formal security alliance with India. He has highlighted the threat India faced from China, warned against the China-Pakistan axis as posing a threat to both the US and India, and underlined the economic convergences between the US and India.

Waltz, 50, also co-led a Congressional delegation to India last year and attended the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort on August 15, 2023, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledging the presence of his delegation during his speech.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Waltz’s nomination on Monday evening Eastern time, a story that was subsequently confirmed by other American media outlets.

Waltz has been a strong Trump supporter. At the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee this July, slamming President Joe Biden’s national security record, Waltz said, “Under President Trump, we defeated ISIS, broke Iran, stood with Israel, always stood with our allies, made China pay. You didn’t see any spy balloons under President Trump, did you? He deterred Russia…He defused North Korea. He got hostages home.”

A China hawk, an experienced professional

Waltz is the first Green Beret, a part of the US Army Special Forces, to serve in Congress. He served in combat in Afghanistan. Waltz’s wife, Julia Nesheiwat, was Trump’s homeland security advisor at the end of his first term.

Waltz played a key role in shaping Trump’s position on the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan — many consider this a turning point in how the electorate viewed Biden’s national security record, for Biden’s approval ratings never recovered from that point in August 2021.

At RNC, Waltz had a prime speaking slot where he spoke extensively about introducing the families of those personnel killed during the withdrawal to Trump.

Waltz, who served as a policy director in the Pentagon under Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He is also a member of the House Task Force on China, a group that has advanced a set of recommendations in various domains to counter Beijing. Waltz has sponsored legislation that aims to reduce dependence on China for critical minerals and another that aims to protect American universities from Chinese espionage.

A piece that Waltz wrote, along with former House speaker and Republican elder Newt Gingrich, in March 2021 calling for the Winter Olympics to be moved out of China altogether, gives a glimpse into Waltz’s views on China.

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.” On China’s human rights record, he wrote, “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.”

Waltz slammed China for having “eliminated Hong Kong’s autonomy”, and for having worked to “stamp out religion in China and ‘Sinicize’ religious doctrine”. “Church leaders, nuns, and congregation members have been arrested. Crosses have been removed from churches while other churches have been destroyed. Religious displays have been replaced with portraits of Xi Jinping. Bible sales have been restricted, while censors have removed ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ’ from religious publications.”

In May 2020, offering context for his university-focused legislation, Waltz, in another piece, wrote strongly against Chinese “mass infiltration and theft of American research” at US colleges and universities.

“The Chinese government is stealing this information for later use against us. Beyond taking our research and development, the Chinese government is also using our universities as sites to further its propaganda machine and subtly portray China’s rise as benign and peaceful. To do this, the Chinese Communist Party has strategically placed over 100 state-sponsored Confucius Institutes on college campuses,” Waltz wrote. “China must not be allowed to skip ahead and steal its way to the top on the backs of American taxpayers.”

A call for a formal alliance with India

Waltz is one of India’s strongest supporters on Capitol Hill, viewing Washington DC’s partnership with New Delhi largely through the prism of their shared rivalry with Beijing.

In an October 2021 piece in Foreign Policy magazine, co-authored by Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the UN and Trump’s subsequent rival in the presidential primaries, Waltz called for the US to formalise an alliance with India.

India has made it clear that is not seeking an alliance, but the value of the piece lies in illustrating how Waltz thinks of India.

Waltz argued then that the US should “prioritise relationships that strengthen our standing in the world” and said that “the place to start” was 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 programme, and a proven history of economic and military cooperation with the United States, India would make 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 enable the United States to form a real deterrent to potential terrorist threats in Afghanistan as well as counter China,” Waltz wrote two months after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Waltz (and Haley) wrote that a US-India alliance would also give America an edge over China and that like the US, India recognised that China was a rapidly growing threat. They offered details of the 2020 India-China border clashes in the piece and then argued, “A US-India alliance would give China pause before further expanding into Central and Southern Asia…An alliance would also recognise the region’s shifting geopolitical realities. China’s newly aggressive posture toward India is not by accident. It is part of a broader plan. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is emboldened after shoring up support from India’s longtime foe, Pakistan…China now has a regional client state willing to do the CCP’s bidding and help bolster its international standing,” Waltz co-wrote.

Building on this theme of a China-Pakistan axis, a key concern for Indian security planners, Waltz co-wrote, “Growing collusion between China and Pakistan poses serious security risks for both India and the United States…For India, a US alliance would be a bulwark against a two-fronted conflict on its borders. For the United States, an alliance would help blunt Pakistan’s influence—a state sponsor of terrorism now propped up by Chinese investments—in Afghanistan. We need a new partner to prevent the creation of a terrorist super state that can attack our country again.”

Waltz also said that such an alliance can help with secure supply chains and reduce dependence. “We can rely on India as a major source of pharmaceuticals, technology, and critical minerals, supplementing our own domestic manufacturing capabilities. We should also continue working toward a more comprehensive US-India trade deal.”

He noted the importance of enhancing cybersecurity cooperation between the two countries and claimed that a formal alliance will build on the work done by the Trump administration in deepening ties. “The benefits of a US-India alliance are many. It’s also the case that we share many values. By uniting the world’s strongest and largest democracies in a formal alliance, we can do a better job of defending freedom in an increasingly tyrannical world.”

Waltz claimed that America did things with India that it did with allies, yet the current diplomatic status with India was described as a strategic partnership. “An upgrade is urgently needed. Just as our alliances with NATO, Japan, and South Korea transformed US security in the 20th century, an alliance with India would help keep us safe in the 21st century. It’s time to make that happen.”

Waltz’s engagement with India has taken other forms, including as the co-chair of the House India Caucus along with Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna.

In June 2023, at the time of Modi’s state visit to the US, Waltz tweeted, “The US and India are bonded by our shared national security interests and democratic values. It’s a no-brainer to streamline military sales to help both of our nations bolster security in the Indo-Pacific.”

He called the partnership the most consequential of the 21st century and said, “As the world’s largest democracy & ally in our global competition with China, India’s strength is essential to our national security.”

In August 2023, during his visit to Delhi, Waltz met Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, and other top Indian officials, besides becoming a part of the first US Congressional delegation to attend the Independence Day celebrations.

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