Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has said that India wants to be a partner with the US but considers it "weak" and is playing "smart" by staying close to Russia from where it gets a lot of their military equipment.

"I have dealt with India too. I have got to say, I have dealt with India too. I have talked with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. India wants to be a partner with us. They don't want to be a partner with Russia," Haley, 52, said.

Haley, the only Republican candidate in the race for the party's nomination against Donald Trump, said that New Delhi has played smart in the current global situation and stayed close to 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," Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN, said in response to a question.

India has longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation with Russia in the field of defence.

In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

"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. Japan gave themselves a billion-dollar stimulus to become less dependent on China,” Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, 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.

Haley also said China is not doing well economically and is preparing for a war with the US.

"Financially, they're not doing well. You see their government has become more controlling. They have been preparing for war with us for years. That's their mistake,” she said.

Haley was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa in South Carolina to immigrant Sikh parents from Amritsar, Punjab.

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