Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, to justify the 50 per cent levies on Indian goods, called New Delhi a “laundromat for the Kremlin” while saying that "Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people."
Navarro’s comments came in the context of the continuing Indian purchases of Russian oil and said that, despite being the biggest democracy, it is making purchases from Russia and China. Navarro has made a series of comments targeting India and its purchases of Russian oil as he tried to justify the additional 25 pc trade levies on New Delhi imposed by Donald Trump.
During an interview, he said, 'India was not the sole offender; its neighbour, China, is as well.' Navarro clarified that while India currently has a 50 per cent tariff, there is also a levy of slightly over 50 pc on China.
He said that New Delhi’s overall purchases from Russia were under 5 per cent before the Ukraine war began, yet they later surged to more than 30 per cent. "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.
When asked about what was wrong with India making big purchases of Russian oil, Navarro replied, “The same money that the Kremlin receives from India is being used to fuel the war against Ukraine.”
Also Read: Navarro calls Ukraine crisis Modi’s war
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." Indian money is hurting American taxpayers, workers and Ukrainians who are getting killed by Russian drone attacks,” he said.
He expressed shock over why Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was getting so close and cosy with Putin and Jinping despite running a fundamentally different style of country.
So, Navarro said, "I would just say to 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."
Navarro has constantly targeted India over the Russian oil purchases and called the Ukraine conflict "Modi's war", intensifying what started as a trade spat between India and the US.
Also Read: Trump advisor shocked by India’s tough stand on Russian imports
Follow us
