‘India needs US, not Russia’: Peter Navarro launches fresh salvo on India following Modi’s meeting with Putin and Xi

He then hit out at PM Modi, stating that India needs the United States, Europe, and Ukraine, not Russia, further warning New Delhi to stop purchasing discounted crude oil from Moscow.

“We hope he comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us, Europe and Ukraine, not Russia,” the White House official said.

‘Brahmins profiteering’

Earlier, in a bid to defend US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, Navarro accused New Delhi of fuelling Russia’s aggression against Ukraine through its oil trade with Moscow.

Labelling India as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”, Navarro, in an interview with Fox News, alleged that the Brahmins were profiteering at the “expense of the Indian people”.

“India is the maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world. They export us a bunch of stuff. So, who gets hurt? Workers in America, taxpayers, Ukrainians. Modi is a great leader. I don’t understand why he is getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when India is the biggest democracy in the world,” the White House official said.

“I would simply say this to Indian people to understand what is going on here. You have got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people, and we want that to stop,” he added.

‘Strategic freeloading’

With the United States’ 50% tariffs on Indian goods coming into effect on Wednesday (Aug 27), Navarro has repeatedly trained his guns on India.

Previously, he had shared a post on social media platform X describing India’s foreign policy as “strategic freeloading”, which he said was being “confronted” by Trump.

“The Biden admin largely looked the other way at this madness. President Trump is confronting it. A 50% tariff—25% for unfair trade and 25% for national security—is a direct response,” he said in a post on X.

“If India, the world’s largest democracy, wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to act like one. The road to peace in Ukraine runs through New Delhi,” the White House official added.

He then justified Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports and alleged that the move was “cutting off the financial lifeline India has extended to Putin’s war machine”.

“It doesn’t stop there. India continues to buy Russian weapons—while demanding that US firms transfer sensitive military tech and build plants in India. That’s strategic freeloading,” Trump’s close aide said.

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