India, Aug. 24 -- Republican leader Nikki Haley on Saturday said that India is needed by the United States to face China, while also asking New Delhi to take US President Donald Trump's points on Russian oil.

Haley's statement comes amid a row over Trump's tariffs on India and New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil as the Ukraine war rages on. The former US ambassador to the UN said that decades of friendship and goodwill between the world's two largest democracies provide a solid basis to move past the current turbulence.

"India must take Trump's point over Russian oil seriously, and work with the White House to find a solution. The sooner the better. Decades of friendship and goodwill between the world's two largest democracies provide a...