New York: In a new rant against India for its purchases of Russian oil, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has said that “Brahmins” are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people and it needs to “stop”.
“Look (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is a great leader,” Navarro, the Trump administration’s Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing, said in an interview with Fox News Sunday.
The trade adviser said that he doesn’t understand how the Indian leader is cooperating with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping “when he’s the biggest democracy in the world.”
“So I would just simply say, the Indian people, please understand what’s going on here. You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop,” Navarro said.
Navarro has been consistently targeting India over the last few days following a major downturn in ties between Washington and New Delhi over President Donald Trump’s policies on trade and tariffs.
Trump has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.
India has termed the tariffs imposed on it as “unjustified and unreasonable”.
Navarro was asked about China’s purchases of Russian oil and whether the implementation of extra tariffs on India is enough to “choke” Putin.
“Well, let’s be clear, we have 50 per cent tariffs now on India, but we also have a little over 50 per cent tariffs on China. So there’s a question, how much higher do you want to go without actually hurting ourselves?” he said.
Navarro said that before Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, India didn’t buy Russian oil, and its purchases were of very, very small amounts.
“What happened? Well, the Russian refiners went in and got into bed with big oil in India. Putin gives Modi a discount on the crude. They refine it, and they ship it to Europe, Africa and Asia at a big premium, and they make a ton of money,” he said.
“Now, what’s wrong with that picture?” Navarro said, adding that this “fuels” the Russian war machine, saying India is “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”.
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
Russia has emerged as India’s top energy supplier since the West slapped sanctions on its crude oil after the invasion of Ukraine.
“It kills Ukrainians. And what we have to do as taxpayers, we got to send them more money so Ukraine can defend themselves. And on top of that, by the way, the 25 per cent of the 50 per cent is because India is the ‘maharaja’ of tariffs,” Navarro alleged.
“They have the highest tariffs in the world. So they export us a bunch of stuff, (and) they won’t let us sell to them. So who gets hurt? Workers in America, taxpayers in America, Ukrainians in cities getting killed by Russian drones,” he claimed.
Navarro has previously described the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war” and said the “road to peace” runs partly “right through New Delhi”.
The US has refrained from criticising China, the largest importer of Russian crude oil.
PTI
