India Says It Won’t Stop Buying Russian Oil — Trump’s Top Advisor Confirms Modi Govt's Defiant Stand

The Modi government has shown little sign of bowing to US pressure over its energy policy, with Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro suggesting India remains firm on continuing Russian oil imports despite steep new tariffs.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Navarro took aim at New Delhi’s position, confirming its unwillingness to shift.

“...they say we’re not going to stop buying Russian oil. Now what does that mean? Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine, kill more Ukrainians, and then Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says give us more money. So American taxpayers lose because we’ve got to fund Modi’s war,” Navarro said.

He argued that Indian refiners were profiting at America’s expense. “When India buys Russian oil at a discount and then Indian refiners, in partnership with Russian refiners, sell it at a premium to the rest of the world, everybody in America loses,” Navarro claimed.

"Indians are so arrogant about this. They say...it's our sovereignty. We can buy oil from anyone we want," a visibly upset Navarro, in a full-blown meltdown, added.

Navarro also defended the Trump administration’s decision to slap a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods. “In India, 25 per cent tariffs were put in place because they cheat us on trade. Then 25 per cent because of the Russian oil… That’s insane,” he said.

India, however, has pushed back firmly.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar said it was “perplexing” to target India when China and the EU remain Russia’s largest buyers, calling the tariffs “extremely unfortunate” and pledging to “take all actions necessary to protect national interests.”