World leaders have gathered in Tianjin for the SCO summit, with PM Narendra Modi attending the event after a gap of seven years. On the sidelines, Modi held a bilateral meeting with China President Xi Jinping yesterday, while another with Russia President Vladimir Putin is scheduled for today. Amid this, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro renewed his criticism, accusing India of “financing” the war in Ukraine.
He also targeted the country’s upper caste, saying that they are “profiteering from Indian people”.
‘Brahmins profiteering from Indian people’
In an interview with Fox News, he defended Trump’s 50% tariffs against India and alleged that, before Russia “invaded” Ukraine, India used to buy a very small amount of oil. However, post that, he said India is buying oil at a discounted rate from Russia, processing it and exporting it at a “big premium”.
“India is nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin,” Navarro said, before alleging, “It fuels the war machine… it kills Ukrainians.”
He went on to add, “And what do we have to do as taxpayers? We’ve got to send them more money so that Ukraine can defend itself.”
Not just that, he also lashed out at Brahmins and said, “You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”
Navarro also said that Modi is “getting in bed” with Putin and Xi Jinping despite being a “great leader” of the “world’s largest democracy”.
“I don’t understand why he is getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he’s the biggest democracy in the world,” he said.
Navarro also blasted India’s trade practices: “India is the Maharaja of tariffs. They export us a bunch of stuff and won’t let us sell to them.” He linked this imbalance to damage suffered by U.S. workers and Ukrainian civilians alike.
‘All tariffs are still in effect’: Trump
In a long post on Truth Social, Trump accused the appeals court of being “highly partisan” and insisted the Supreme Court would side with him after the seven-to-four decision.
“All tariffs are still in effect!” he wrote, adding, ‘If these tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster… this decision would literally destroy the United States of America.”
He argued that tariffs would defend American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, and that the US would no longer tolerate
“enormous trade deficits” or “unfair barriers” from other countries.
Navarro also sided with Trump and said that “the boss is always right” and that it is a “weaponised partisan injustice”.