India, Aug. 9 -- Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has warned that President Donald Trump's tariff measures against India, intended to hurt Russia, could end up having the opposite effect by pushing New Delhi closer to Moscow and Beijing.

"Trump's tariffs against India are intended to hurt Russia but they could push India closer to Russia and to China to oppose these tariffs," John Bolton told CNN in an interview.

The former NSA further cautioned, "Trump's leniency on the Chinese, and heavy-handed tariffs on India, jeopardise decades of American efforts to bring India away from Russia and China."

In an opinion piece for The Hill, Bolton said Trump's approach of favouring China over India on trade is "an enormous mistake a...