White House trade advisor Peter Navarro unleashed a controversial attack on India’s oil trade with Russia on September 1, 2025, accusing the country’s Brahmin elite of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people” during an interview with Fox News. Labeling India a “laundromat for the Kremlin,” Navarro claimed that Indian refiners are buying discounted Russian crude, processing it, and exporting it at a premium, thereby fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine. His remarks, laced with a caste-based jab, have sparked outrage, especially as they coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Navarro’s comments were made in defense of the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs on Indian goods, effective August 27, 2025, which include a 25% penalty linked to India’s Russian oil imports. He alleged that India’s increased oil purchases since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine—rising from less than 1% to 35% of its crude imports—are driven by profit motives rather than domestic need, claiming, “It kills Ukrainians, and U.S. taxpayers have to send more money to Ukraine.” He further criticized Modi, calling him a “great leader” but questioning his alignment with Putin and Xi, stating, “I don’t understand why he’s getting in bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he’s the biggest democracy in the world.”
India has defended its oil purchases, arguing they stabilize global energy markets, a role Western nations initially encouraged post-2022. The Ministry of External Affairs highlighted that Europe and the U.S. continue to import Russian gas and uranium, calling out Western “hypocrisy.” India’s imports, averaging 1.78 million barrels daily in 2025, have saved billions while keeping global oil prices in check, government sources claim. Navarro’s casteist remark about Brahmins has drawn sharp criticism, with national security expert Derek J. Grossman warning that “fomenting caste unrest in India should never be U.S. foreign policy.”
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The timing of Navarro’s outburst, during Modi’s SCO engagements to rebuild India-China ties post the 2020 Ladakh standoff, underscores escalating U.S.-India tensions. Modi’s talks with Xi focused on trade balance and counter-terrorism, while his upcoming meeting with Putin aims to strengthen India-Russia ties amid Trump’s protectionist measures. Navarro’s claim that India’s high tariffs harm American workers and his portrayal of the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war” intensify a trade spat now intertwined with geopolitical and cultural rhetoric, raising questions about the future of U.S.-India relations in a volatile global landscape.
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