'Trump Misplayed His Hand': Ex-Australian PM Tony Abbott Weighs In On US' 50% Tariffs Against India

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, while speaking at the NDTV World Summit, talked about the 50% tariffs on India imposed by the US, and said that President Donald Trump has "misplayed" his hand in the matter.

"I think he misplayed his hand with India recently when he imposed those punitive tariffs, particularly given there are other countries that are cheating here, especially China, that didn't get the same kind of treatment," he said.

Abbott said that while he is a supporter of Trump, he believes that the US President made a mistake by "consistently tilting towards Pakistan, a military dictatorship, as opposed to India, a liberal democracy."

He remarked that America's benefit lies in forging a solid friendship with India instead of Pakistan. The Ex-PM highlighted that Americans have been trying to correct this mistake "very sensibly" over the last 20 years.

Abbott called the 50% tariffs a setback, yet he said, "given the fundamental community of interest and values that India does have with the democracies, I think it will only be a temporary setback, but let's hope that this can be remedied very quickly".

Clarifying his stance on US-Pakistan relations, he added, "There are good people in Pakistan, but it is still at heart a military society with a strong Islamist streak. India is totally different. I'm not saying the US should not work with Pakistan where it can. But it needs to know where its better friends are."

Abbott's comments on the Unites States come in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump having slapped on hefty 50% tariffs on an array of Indian exports.

The tariffs, originally set at 25% for India, had a punitive 25% added for buying Russian oil.