The Trump confusion: Navarro calls Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘Modi’s war’ as Bessent eyes to resolve trade issues

Amid the brewing tensions between India and the US, top officials of US President Donald Trump took different stances on the matter. While Trump’s trade counsellor, Peter Navarro, is resorting to provocative remarks against New Delhi, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent maintained that both nations are trying to resolve trade issues constructively.

On Thursday, Navarro escalated his criticism of India, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of fuelling Russia’s war in Ukraine through discounted oil purchases. The Trump administration imposed 25 per cent penalty tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.

Meanwhile, India rejected the penalties, calling out the double standards of the US since China purchases more Russian oil than India. Navarro went on to warn against India’s growing economic ties with Beijing and Moscow, stating that it would risk global stability.

Navarro attacks India

In an interview with Bloomberg, Navarro accused India of playing a double game on trade and energy. He went on to allege that these actions amount to “Modi’s war”. “If India stops buying Russian oil, it can get 25 per cent off tomorrow,” Navarro exclaimed.

“What’s troubling to me is that Modi is a great leader, India is a mature democracy, and yet they look us bald-faced in the eye and say they don’t have the highest tariffs in the world, when in fact they do. Then 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,” Trump’s trade representative told Bloomberg.

Navarro argued that Indian refiners are taking advantage of cheap Russian crude oil to turn a profit, which he claimed is worsening the conflict. “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,” he said. “The road to peace runs at least partly through New Delhi’s war. I mean, Modi war.”

Navarro went on to make more provocative remarks, dismissing India’s claims of sovereignty over its oil imports and accusing the government of arrogance. “India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world. Act like one. Side with the democracies. You’re getting in bed with the authoritarians. China invaded Aksai Chin and all your territory. These are not your friends, folks,” Navarro exclaimed.

He noted that the Indian purchases of roughly 1.5 million barrels of Russian oil per day were enough to bankroll “a lot of drones and bombs to kill Ukrainians”. The remarks came as the US’s nearly 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods came into effect.

The measure is expected to hit 66 per cent of India’s exports to America. In 2024-25, the bilateral trade in goods stood at $131.8 billion ($86.5 billion exports and $45.3 billion imports), according to PTI.

Bessent takes a milder approach

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took a milder approach and said that India and the US will eventually come together and work to resolve the trade issues between the two nations. He maintained that the communication lines between India and the US continue to remain open.

Bessent’s remarks came hours after Trump’s punitive tariffs came into effect in India on Wednesday. “I think at the end of the day, we will come together. Both sides have concerns about how this will play out, and both sides are looking to resolve them. Communication channels are open,” the American treasury secretary averred.

Bessent claimed that the US currently has the upper hand in trade negotiations, which have been paused after the 50 per cent tariffs kicked in. Just like Navarro, Bessent also expressed dissatisfaction over New Delhi continuing to purchase Russian oil. “This is a very complicated relationship. But President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have very good relationships at that level,” he told Fox Business.

While commenting on a trade deal between two nations, a Trump official said that he believed India and the US would have a deal by May or June, as he called New Delhi’s actions “performative”.

“I thought India could be one of the earlier deals. And they kind of tapped us along in terms of the negotiations. And then there is also the aspect of the Russian crude purchases, which they’ve been profiting from. So there are many levels going on here,” Bessent averred.

Overall, it remains unclear how the tensions between the two nations will eventually be resolved.