Washington, D.C. [US], August 29 (ANI): Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing at the White House, Peter Navarro, has once again accused India of profiting from Russian oil in scathing remarks.
Navarro, considered the key driver behind the 50 percent tariffs on India, said that India engaged in unfair trade practices, which the tariffs aim to curb.
In a post on X, he said, “President Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian imports are now in effect. This isn’t just about India’s unfair trade—it’s about cutting off the financial lifeline India has extended to Putin’s war machine.”
“Here’s how the India-Russia oil mathematics works: American consumers buy Indian goods while India keeps out U.S. exports through high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. India uses our dollars to buy discounted Russian crude. Indian refiners, with their silent Russian partners, refine and flip the black-market oil for big profits on the international market—while Russia pockets hard currency to fund its war on Ukraine,” he said.
However, China, which is the biggest buyer of Russian oil, did not figure in his arguments.
“Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian oil made up less than 1% of India’s imports. Today? Over 30%—more than 1.5 million barrels a day. This surge isn’t driven by domestic demand—it’s driven by Indian profiteers and carries an added price of blood and devastation in Ukraine. India’s Big Oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin. Indian refiners buy cheap Russian oil, process it, and export fuels to Europe, Africa, and Asia—shielded from sanctions under the pretense of neutrality,” he claimed.
Navarro also accused India of imposing high tariffs on the U.S. and helping fill Putin’s war chest.
“India now exports over 1 million barrels a day in refined petroleum—more than half the volume of Russian crude it imports. The proceeds flow to India’s politically connected energy titans—and directly into Putin’s war chest. While the United States pays to arm Ukraine, India bankrolls Russia even as it slaps some of the world’s highest tariffs on U.S. goods, which in turn punishes American exporters. We run a $50-billion trade deficit with India—and they’re using our dollars to buy Russian oil. They make a killing and Ukrainians die,” Navarro said.
The comments by Navarro appear one-sided, as Russian President Vladimir Putin noted during a press conference with Trump in Alaska on August 16 that bilateral trade between the two nations has increased by 20 percent since Trump’s reinstatement as president.
“Incidentally, when the new administration came to power, bilateral trade started to grow. It’s still very symbolic. Still, we have a growth of 20%. As I’ve said, we have a lot of dimensions for joint work. It is clear that the U.S. and Russian investment and business cooperation has tremendous potential,” Putin had said.
Navarro further stated that U.S. President Donald Trump sought to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while India continued to buy Russian weapons.
“It doesn’t stop there. India continues to buy Russian weapons—while demanding that U.S. firms transfer sensitive military tech and build plants in India. That’s strategic freeloading. The Biden administration 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. 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,” Navarro concluded.
Navarro also failed to note that the Alaska Summit between Trump and Putin did not arrive at any conclusions, after which the White House blamed the media for “rooting against” peace efforts. Similarly, here too, the Trump administration did not acknowledge that China imports more Russian oil than India, and spared it from criticism. (ANI)
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