Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday sharply criticised Peter Navarro, a senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing in the White House, for his recent derogatory remarks about India. Navarro had labelled India the “maharaja of tariffs” and a “laundromat of Russia”, while also referring to the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war”.
Additionally, Navarro claimed that “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.” Tharoor, while with speaking national media, condemned the inflammatory language, emphasising that it was unnecessary given the strengthening ties between India and the United States.
Tharoor, the Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, addressed Navarro’s comments alongside former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent tariff policies. He noted that the imposition of tariffs by Trump “has definitely created a very strong backlash in India, and the accompanying insults, both by Trump’s own language in his statements and tweets” have exacerbated tensions.
He further criticised Navarro’s remarks, stating, “Subsequently, the extremely offensive statements by his advisor (Peter) Navarro have gotten a backlash across the country. If there’s no particular problem in a relationship of 30 years, which has been getting toward greater closeness, why would you use this kind of language about India? This was not at all appreciated.”
Delving into the root of the issue, Tharoor explained that Trump views tariffs as “magic instruments” to address multiple challenges, including reducing the U.S. trade deficit and advancing his political agenda. “What went wrong to begin with is that Trump has this idea that tariffs are the magic instruments to solve a number of his problems,” Tharoor said.
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“He feels that too many things that were manufactured in America are now being imported. He wants to make that more expensive so that the American manufacturer will start doing things more in America and employ American workers, who are his base [the MEGA constituency, as it is called].” Tharoor highlighted that Trump’s strategy is to make imported goods costlier through tariffs, thereby incentivising domestic production and appealing to his political supporters.
The controversy stems from Trump’s trade policies, which included imposing a 25 pc tariff on Indian imports to the U.S. in August 2025. He later announced an additional 25 pc duty as a “penalty” for India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, further straining bilateral trade relations.
These actions, combined with Navarro’s provocative statements, have fuelled widespread criticism in India, as articulated by Tharoor, who underscored the inappropriateness of such rhetoric in the context of a historically amicable relationship between the two nations.
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