White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday responded to criticism in India over his comments about New Delhi and its trade policies, telling his critics not to attack him as he said such an approach is not how problems are resolved in America.
“I actually got firebombed by the Indian continent on the internet with all sorts of nasty little attacks. And all I would say is, don’t do that. That’s not how we resolve problems here in America,” he told reporters at the White House.
Notably, Navarro has repeatedly criticised India, even calling it the “Maharaja of tariffs,” while defending US retaliatory tariffs in response to India’s purchase of Russian oil.
Trump aide on India’s Russian oil purchases
Navarro, who advises US President Donald Trump on trade and manufacturing matters, said India was not involved in the Russian oil trade before the Ukraine war began in 2022. He said India’s involvement increased after the war started.
“Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, India was not involved in the oil trade with Russia, but afterwards it got heavily involved and was selling a lot of refined products on behalf of Russia, which helped feed the war machine,” he said.
The US official said the issue has now been resolved and claimed that he played a role in reducing India’s oil trade with Russia.
“Maybe, I had a little bit to do with that with that op-ed,” Navarro said, referring to an article he wrote for The Financial Times.
‘Got firebombed by India’: Navarro
He said he was “firebombed” by India over his comments about the country and its trade policies involving Russia.
The US official also urged his critics to stop making “nasty little attacks”, saying such criticism is not how problems are resolved in America.
Peter Navarro’s tirade against India
Navarro has been a vocal critic of India’s trade policies involving Russia and has previously accused the country of helping fund Russia’s “war machine” in Ukraine.
In his opinion piece for the Financial Times, he described India’s oil trade with Russia as “opportunistic” and “corrosive” to international efforts to isolate the Russian economy.
“As Russia continues to hammer Ukraine, helped by India’s financial support, American (and European) taxpayers are then forced to spend tens of billions more to help Ukraine’s defence. Meanwhile, India keeps slamming the door on American exports through high tariffs and trade barriers. More than 300,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed, while Nato’s eastern flank grows more exposed and the west foots the bill for India’s oil laundering,” wrote Navarro.
A few days later, he stepped up his criticism of India, calling the country a “laundromat for the Kremlin”.
He has also referred to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war”, claiming that the money Moscow earns through oil sales is used to fund “its war machine” in Ukraine.
India on Navarro’s remarks
In September last year, India dismissed Navarro’s comments about its purchases of Russian oil as “inaccurate and misleading”.
“We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr Navarro and obviously reject them,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
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