Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley on Wednesday said that India wants to be a partner with the US, but as of now they don't trust Americans to lead. The Indian-American presidential aspirant also said that India has played smart in the current global situation and stayed close with Russia.

Nikki Haley, in an interview with Fox Business News, said that, as of now, India sees the United States as weak.

"I have got to say, I have dealt with India too. I have talked with Modi. India wants to be a partner with us. They don't want to be a partner with Russia. The problem is, India doesn't trust us to win. They don't trust us to lead. They see right now that we're weak. India has always played it smart. They have played it smart, and they have stayed close with Russia, because that's where they get a lot of their military equipment," she said.

"When we start to lead again, when we start to get the weakness out and stop putting our head in the sand, that's when our friends, India, Australia, New Zealand, all of them will -- and Israel, Japan, South Korea -- all of them want to do that...,” Haley said.

"India gave themselves a billion-dollar stimulus to become less dependent on China," she told Fox Business News, adding that the US needs to start building up its alliances.

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley recently faced a setback as Grand Old Party (GOP) voters collectively chose the "none of these candidates" option on the ballot in the Nevada primary.

Haley had hoped to position herself as a genuine competitor against Trump but ended up losing to the 'none of these candidates' option, becoming the first presidential candidate to face such a defeat since the option was introduced in Nevada in 1975.

Source: India Today