India won’t replace China in supply chains, and the US knows it, says top American economist

India must avoid being co-opted into the West’s “misguided” trade war with China, says leading American economist Jeffrey Sachs, warning that the U.S. sees New Delhi more as a strategic pawn than a partner.

In an interview with NDTV, the Columbia University professor said the idea that India could replace China in global supply chains was unrealistic and economically shortsighted. 

“According to at least some people, India was going to become the replacement for China,” he told NDTV. “The U.S. would fight China, and it would welcome India to replace the Chinese supply chains. I said that I regarded that as unrealistic.”

Sachs argued that Washington’s protectionist policies — including the recent move by Donald Trump to impose a 50% tariff on Indian goods — demonstrate the limits of any long-term economic cooperation with the U.S. “It’s not going to allow a major expansion of exports from India any more than it would from China,” he warned.

His remarks come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China, signaling a potential thaw in the icy relationship between the Asian giants since the Galwan clash.

Sachs, known globally for his work on economic reforms and poverty reduction, said Indian policymakers should be alarmed by recent U.S. moves. “India needs to rely on a diversified base of partners — Russia, China, ASEAN, Africa, and elsewhere — and not see itself as mainly focusing on the U.S. market, which is going to be unstable, slow-growing, and basically protectionist.”

He also stressed the untapped potential in India-China technological cooperation. “If you look at green energy, digital, AI, or advanced chips, China is a good partner for India,” Sachs told NDTV. “Yes, India-China relations are strained for other reasons. But solve those, because the benefits of the two giants really having good economic and trade relations would be wonderful — not just for them, but for the world.”

Sachs’s advice to India is blunt: hedge your bets — and don’t let Washington dictate your economic future.