White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has once again, in a bid to justify US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, described New Delhi as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”, adding that “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.” Peter Navarro mentioned the ongoing negotiation talks with India and said that China is also an offender.(Reuters)

Navarro made the remarks in reference to India’s purchase of Russian oil and asked why the country was in business with Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping when it itself is the “biggest democracy in the world”.

In recent times, Navarro has been constantly making remarks targeted at India and its purchase of Russian oil as he tries to justify the additional 25 per cent tariff Trump imposed on New Delhi to double its levy over the country’s trade with Russia.

In an interview with Fox News, Navarro was asked about the ongoing negotiations with India and that New Delhi was not the only offender; China is as well. He was asked whether additional tariffs on India were “enough to choke Vladimir Putin”.

Navarro clarified that while India currently has a 50 per cent tariff, there is also a little over 50 per cent levy on China. He said there is also a question of how much higher the US wants to go without actually hurting itself.

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But Trump’s advisor was quick to circle back on India, saying that before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India did not buy Russian oil, just in very small amounts.

“What happened? Well, the Russian refiners went in and got into bed with big oil India. Putin gives (Prime Minister Narendra) 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,” Navarro said.

‘Laundromat, Tariffs’ Maharaja, Brahmins profiteering…’

He asked, “Now, what’s wrong with that picture?” and added, “Well, it fuels the Russian war machine. India is nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin. It kills Ukrainians. And what we have to do as taxpayers is we have to send them more money so Ukraine can defend itself.”

The White House trade advisor went on to describe India as the “Maharaja of tariffs”, saying that New Delhi has the highest tariffs in the world.

“They export us a bunch of stuff. They won’t let US sell to them. So, who gets hurt? Workers in America, taxpayers in America, Ukrainians in cities get killed by Russian drones,” he added.

While calling PM Modi a “great leader”, Navarro said he doesn’t understand why “he’s getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he’s the biggest democracy in the world”.

So, Navarro said, “I would just say the Indian people, please, understand what’s going on here. The Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”

This is not the first time that Navarro has made such remarks against India. Earlier as well, he called India an “oil money laundromat”. He hit out at New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil and referred to the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war”, intensifying what started as a trade spat between India and US.

India on its Russian oil purchases

India has defended its purchases by saying that it is “guided by what is on offer in markets and prevailing global situation” when it comes to sourcing energy. New Delhi has argued that the sourcing is determined by “national security imperatives and strategic assessments”.

The Ministry of External Affairs had also hit out at the US and said that at the time when India began importing crude from Russia after the 2022 invasion, Washington “actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability”.

India also pointed out the US and the European Union’s continuing trade relations with Russia, including European countries’ trade in goods and Washington’s import of items from Russia for its civil nuclear industry.