A day after the US raised tariffs on Indian products to 50 per cent, Peter Navarro, trade advisor to President Donald Trump, described the Russia-Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”, and said “the road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi”.
“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing.
Consumers, businesses and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, factories and income. And then the taxpayers lose because we have got to fund Modi’s war. The road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi,” Navarro told Bloomberg TV.
He reiterated “Modi’s war” after the interviewer said “you mean Putin’s war”.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi on Navarro’s remarks. Text messages and calls to the Ministry of External Affairs for comment did not elicit a response until Thursday evening.
Three days ago, Vinay Kumar, India’s ambassador to Russia, told the TASS news agency that “Indian companies will continue buying (oil) from wherever they get the best deal”. He said, “We have clearly stated that our objective is the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India and India’s cooperation with Russia, as of several other countries, has helped to bring about stability in the oil market, global oil market.”
Tightrope walk for New Delhi
India was one of the first countries to begin talks with the US. It was proceeding very well, but suddenly went off track with non-trade issues such as India’s oil purchases from Russia taking centrestage. It will be a tightrope walk for India as it stands up to Trump, while also keen to get the US on its side.
Navarro, responding to a question on whether India is sending signals that it is going to stop buying Russian oil, said, “They (India) are not,” adding that he is “puzzled” because Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a “great leader”.
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“Look, it’s really easy. India can get 25 per cent off tomorrow if it stops buying Russian oil,” he said.
Reiterating US concerns over India’s purchase of Russian oil, Navarro said: “When Indian refiners, in partnership with Russian refiners, sell oil at a premium to the rest of the world, Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine to kill more Ukrainians. And then the next thing that happens, of course, is Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says, give us some more money. So everybody in America loses because of what” India is doing.
He also criticised India over its moves to repair ties with China, saying, “You are getting in bed with the authoritarians. China, you have been at war with them for decades. They invaded Aksai Chin and all your territory. These are not your friends, folks. Okay? And the Russians. I mean, come on.”
Meanwhile, Democrats on the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee, hit out at Trump for “singling out India with tariffs, hurting Americans and sabotaging the US-India relationship in the process”.
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They also flagged how China, one of the largest importers of Russian oil, faces no similar penalty, adding that “it’s not about Ukraine”.
In a statement on X, the committee’s Democrats said, “Instead of imposing sanctions on China or others purchasing larger amounts of Russian oil, Trump is singling out India with tariffs, hurting Americans and sabotaging the US-India relationship in the process.”
Posting a clipping of a New York Times report which said the decision to impose secondary tariffs was focussed solely on India, the Committee members said, “It’s almost like it’s not about Ukraine at all.”