White House trade advisor Peter Navarro (Image credits: ANI)
NEW DELHI: Senior White House adviser Peter Navarro on Friday renewed his attack on India, accusing New Delhi of profiteering from Russian oil and imposing tariffs that he says cost Americans their jobs.In a post on X on Friday, Navarro wrote: “FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins” His remarks came in response to a Washington Post article that said Washington’s harsh language toward New Delhi was worsening ties, reported ANI.Navarro has repeatedly targeted India for its refusal to halt trade with Moscow, calling the conflict “Modi’s war,” branding the country “Kremlin’s laundromat,” and alleging it was profiting from the war. In an interview with Bloomberg Television last week, he claimed: “India is helping feed the Russian war machine. I mean Modi’s war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi.”The ministry of external affairs (MEA) rejected his comments. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously, we reject them.” He added, “We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to, and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests.” Earlier on Friday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that President Donald Trump and his trade team were “disappointed” with India’s continued imports of Russian crude oil but expressed hope for “positive developments.”Trump himself has repeatedly described India as America’s “most tariffed partner,” calling the trade relationship a “totally one-sided disaster.” He argues that while India exports large volumes of goods to the US, its high tariffs restrict American companies from accessing the Indian market. A U.S. appeals court recently ruled that several of Trump’s tariff measures were “illegal.”
