White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, on Wednesday (local time), in an interview, criticised India’s decision to purchase Russian oil. He termed the Russia-Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war” and claimed that New Delhi’s oil purchases indirectly fund Moscow’s war efforts.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power, Navarro stated that by purchasing oil from Russia at discounted prices, India is ‘helping’ Russia. He also alleged that everybody in the US loses because of New Delhi’s actions.
Navarro stated that individuals, including consumers, businesses, and workers in America, lose because India’s high tariffs cost the US jobs, factories, income, and higher wages.
“And then the taxpayers lose, because we’ve got to fund Modi’s war,” he said in the interview with Bloomberg Television.
His remarks follow the US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the imposition of sweeping and substantial tariffs on India. He imposed the new tariffs, saying it was helping Russia wage war in Ukraine.
The US imposed a high percentage of tariffs on Indian goods, due to its continued purchases of Russian oil. The additional 25 percent tariff imposed by the US on Indian goods brought the total tariff to 50 percent.
India has criticised the tariffs imposed by the US and called it “unjustified and unreasonable.”
“The Indians are so arrogant about this. They say, oh, we don’t have higher tariffs. Oh, it’s our sovereignty. We can buy oil from anyone we want. India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world. Okay? Act like one. Side with the democracies,” as per ANI, he said in the interview.
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India On US Tariffs
India’s Foreign Ministry has criticized the US’ move to put tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. The MEA has said that the country is being unfairly singled out for purchasing Russian oil, while the US and the European Union continue to import goods from Russia.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also pushed back against criticism from US officials regarding the country’s energy ties with Russia. He said that America had previously encouraged India to purchase Russian oil to help stabilise global markets.