Trump aide: Ukraine conflict is ‘Modi’s war’

US President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro targetted India’s continued purchases of Russian oil and referred to the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war”, personalising and ratcheting up the intensity of what started as a trade spat between India and the US. Officials in the Trump administration have criticised New Delhi for fuelling Russia’s “war machine” in Ukraine through its substantial oil purchases.

“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. Consumers, businesses, and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, factories, and income. And then the taxpayers lose because we’ve got to fund Modi’s war,” said Navarro, who serves as Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing at the White House, in a television interview.

Navarro, a former economics professor, was also a key figure in the first Trump administration. He rose to prominence due to his hawkish views on trade policy and his criticism of China.

“The road to peace runs at least in part through New Delhi. I mean, that’s a lot of money,” said Navarro, speaking of India’s oil purchases from Russia. Earlier this month, Navarro penned an opinion piece in the Financial Times that was staunchly critical of India’s policy on Ukraine and termed its oil purchases from Russia as “opportunistic”.

India has defended its policy by pointing out that its oil purchases are driven by its energy security needs; that China buys more Russian oil than it does; that the US originally endorsed and supported its decision to buy Russian oil as this would stabilise energy markets; and that European countries buy the output of Indian refineries using Russian oil. New Delhi has also pointed out that America and the European Union have continued their trade in energy and strategic materials with Russia, even after the Ukraine war broke out in 2022.

Navarro stated that India would get a 25% cut in its tariff rate if it stopped purchases of Russian energy. The penalty on India for purchasing Russian energy -- first announced by President Trump in July -- went into effect on Wednesday. India’s tariff rate now stands at 50%, among the highest levied by the US.

He also dismissed the argument that pressuring India would push New Delhi closer to Russia and China.

“The troubling thing to me is that the Indians are so arrogant about this. They say, we don’t have higher tariffs and oh, it’s our sovereignty and we can buy oil from anyone we want. India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world. Act like one. Side with the democracies. You’re getting in bed with the authoritarians,” Navarro declared in the interview with Bloomberg television.

“You’re getting in bed with the authoritarians. You’ve been in a quiet war with China for decades. They invaded Aksai Chin and all your territory. These are not your friends folks. And the Russians? Come on,” Navarro went on to say.

In recent weeks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller have also publicly targeted India for its energy buys from Russia.

But on Wednesday, Bessent said that eventually the two countries would strike a deal. The India-US relationship is complicated, he said, but the two sides will “eventually come together”.

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