Former US Charge d’Affaires to India, Donald Heflin, has warned that Washington’s unpredictable diplomatic approach is complicating trade negotiations with New Delhi.
Mr. Heflin, who is now a Senior Fellow at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, argued that the traditional norms and processes of diplomacy are “broken” in Washington. He added that a lot of diplomats have been fired or have resigned or retired in the last eight months, and many of those remaining have learned the lesson that you don’t raise an unpopular opinion.
However, Heflin remained “cautiously optimistic” about the recent announcement of Sergio Gor as the next US ambassador to India.
Regarding the US policy shift in the Indo-Pacific, Heflin pointed out that renegotiating economic arrangements with China is impacting US ties to other nations in the region, including India.