Following his participation in the inaugural Republican primary debate, where his popularity saw a notable upswing, Ramaswamy articulated his foreign policy stance and proposed strategies on Tuesday.

Ramaswamy criticized Nikki Haley, a fellow Indian American Republican presidential candidate, who had previously criticized him for his lack of experience in matters of foreign policy.

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Ramaswamy said, “We will enter a stronger partnership with India that involves an Indian commitment to close the Malacca Strait in the event of a near-term conflict with Taiwan, and enter stronger partnerships with other allies including South Korea and Japan to reduce our economic dependence on China and Taiwan.”

The politician, who transitioned from entrepreneurship to politics, expressed a preference for clear strategic objectives. He supported the idea that the United States should strongly protect Taiwan until it attains self-sufficiency in semiconductor production. After achieving this independence, he suggested adopting a position of strategic uncertainty when the risks for the U.S. are reduced.

“The American way of life depends on leading-edge semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan, and we can’t risk China gaining near-total leverage over the entire US economy,” he said.

“By saying that we will defend Taiwan, the US can strongly deter China from blockading or invading the island in the near term. Meantime, Taiwan should more than double its own military expenditures to a more rational level of 4 to 5 per cent of its gross domestic product,” he said.

He emphasized the urgency for the United States to swiftly equip and educate Taiwan with Anti-Access/Area Denial weaponry. Additionally, he recommended the regular passage of at least one Destroyer warship through the Taiwan Strait each week.

Furthermore, he highlighted the necessity for enhancing the defence of the US homeland, which is currently exposed to significant risks in potential confrontations with China. He emphasized the importance of bolstering capabilities in areas such as nuclear defence, super electromagnetic pulse protection, cybersecurity, and space defence.

His campaign said that Ramaswamy is the only US Presidential candidate to date who has clearly stated that the US will defend Taiwan.

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“I am the only Presidential candidate willing to state what is necessary: we will defend Taiwan. The US currently doesn’t even recognise Taiwan as a nation. Democrats and Republicans both unquestioningly endorse the ‘one China’ policy and embrace “strategic ambiguity” toward the island,” Ramaswamy said.

Responding to Haley’s criticism, Ramaswamy’s campaign released a statement rebuking her. The statement alleged that Haley was deliberately spreading falsehoods about Ramaswamy as a way to gather financial support for her struggling establishment campaign.

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Haley has strongly criticized Ramaswamy for his perceived lack of support for US allies.

According to his campaign, Haley flatly lied on Fox News that “Ramaswamy said he would abandon Israel, those were his words” and that “he wants to go and stop funding Israel.”

“This is false,” his campaign asserted in a late-night statement.

“We challenge the failing Haley campaign and any media outlet to find a single instance where Ramaswamy utters that he would not support Israel. They will not – because Ramaswamy never said it. Instead, they continue to recycle blatantly false headlines that they manufactured,” the statement said.

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Ramaswamy said that if Israel ever gets to the point that it no longer needs US financial support, that would be a mark of achievement – but that the US will never cut off aid to Israel until Israel says they are ready for it, his campaign said.

It all started about a week ago when Haley at the debate stage accused Ramaswamy of not having any foreign policy experience.

Since then the Ohio-based Indian American has been attacked both by the media and his political opponents for his inexperience on foreign policy.

On Tuesday, Ramaswamy used the ‘Namrata Randhawa’ name of Nikki Haley on his website.

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“I’m not going to get involved in these childish name games. It’s pretty pathetic. First of all, I was born with Nikki on my birth certificate. I was raised as Nikki. I married a Haley. And so that is what my name is.

“So he can say or misspell or do whatever he wants, but he can’t step away from the fact that, he’s the one that said he was going to abandon Israel,” Haley told Fox News in response.

“Those were his words. Now he’s wanting to walk it back. And the reality is, you have to understand the importance of our allies and those relationships. We can never be so narcissistic to think that we don’t need friends,” she said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Updated: 30 Aug 2023, 10:58 AM IST