Source: The Statesman    Published: 2025-04-09

By Jeffrey Sachs

Director of the Center for Sustainable Development and Professor at Columbia University

United Nations advisor Professor Jeffrey Sachs on Wednesday emphasized that India should not allow itself to be used as a tool in Washington’s strategy to counter Beijing.

He warned India against becoming entangled in US geopolitical strategies, particularly amid rising tensions with China.

While speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Sachs said the US wants India to criticise China, describing such moves as part of a broader American agenda. He urged India to chart its own course in foreign policy.

“The US wants to use India to beat up China. Don’t play the American game… India is too big for a US game,” he said, noting that Washington has long sought to pit nations against each other to preserve its global influence, with India now being positioned as a counterweight to China.

“I know India and China have their own issues, but settle them. Between the two of you, you’re 40% of the world’s population, and you could actually help to run a very decent world together,” he added.

He also criticised India’s involvement in strategic groupings such as the Quad, suggesting that these alliances primarily serve US interests.

Sachs described US foreign policy as one centred on control, often at the expense of its allies. “If you’re a friend of the United States, beware.”

He further suggested that as India climbs the global economic ladder, it may encounter the same resentment from the US that China currently faces.

“India is doing wonderfully, and it doesn’t surprise me, because I’ve watched India in its take-off, and I’ve been privileged to be coming to India now for 46 years. So I’ve watched India’s remarkable achievements. For me, it’s a very vivid story,” he said.

He further predicted that India would soon overtake the US to become the world’s second-largest economy. “India will become the second largest economy in the world overtaking the US in 10–15 years.”