World
India Rejects Trump Aide Peter Navarro’s Remarks After His Controversial 'Modi’s War' And ‘Brahmins Profiteering’ Claims
Peter Navarro, Counselor to the President of the United States, with US President Donald Trump.
India has formally dismissed remarks made by Peter Navarro, senior trade advisor to US President Donald Trump, calling them “inaccurate and misleading".
"We have seen inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr Navarro. Obviously, we reject them," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing on Friday (5 September).
Following Trump’s return to office, Navarro has repeatedly criticised India’s trade and foreign policy decisions, fuelling fresh tensions between New Delhi and Washington.
Soon after Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs against India came into force last month, Navarro described the Russia-Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war.”
He alleged that India’s import of Russian oil was sustaining Moscow’s military offensive and urged New Delhi to halt these purchases, promising a possible 25 per cent tariff reduction if India stopped buying discounted crude.
Navarro has also accused India of running a "profiteering scheme" by continuing to import Russian oil and labelled India the "Maharaj" of tariffs.
He claimed that India virtually bought no oil from Moscow before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and now the purchase has shot up to 35 per cent.
He claimed that prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India imported almost no Russian oil, but now the figure had risen to 35 per cent.
Navarro also made a casteist remark when he slammed India's elite for profiteering "at the expense of Indian people."
"India is nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin...You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop," Navarro said, alleging that Indian refiners were buying Russian crude at a discount, processing it, and exporting it for profit.
Trump's trade advisor further attacked India’s engagement with Russia, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the SCO summit a “shame.”
"It is a shame to see [PM] Modi getting in bed with Xi Jinping and Putin. I'm not sure what he's thinking. We hope he comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us and not Russia," he said.
India has criticised US' actions as "unjustified", maintaining that Russian oil imports are vital to control energy costs and stabilise the domestic economy.
