From ‘Modi’s war’ to ‘Kremlin’s laundromat’, Peter Navarro’s India-focused rhetoric

India rejected the White House official’s criticism, calling his statements “inaccurate and misleading.”

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr. Navarro, and obviously, we reject them. … This relationship between the United States and India is very important for us. Both our countries share a comprehensive global strategic partnership, which is anchored in our shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties.”

“We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to, and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,” he added.

Navarro’s India-focused rhetoric

– Imposition of additional duty on India ‘national security issue’: In a bid to defend Trump’s addition 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, Navarro labelled the move a “national security issue” which he said was associated with New Delhi’s “abject refusal to stop buying Russian oil”.

While talking to reporters at the White House in August, the White House official emphasised that it was important to understand that the “rationale for the India tariffs is very different from the reciprocal tariffs.”

“This was a pure national security issue associated with India’s abject refusal to stop buying Russian oil,” he said, and added that “every American needs to understand the math of this because it is related to the trade situation.”

– ‘India must act as strategic partner to be treated as one’: In a very sharply-worded opinion piece in The Financial Times, Navarro wrote, “India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs.”

New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China”, he wrote. “If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to start acting like one,” he said

– ‘Road to peace in Russia-Ukraine conflict runs through New Delhi’: Navarro said that the “road to peace” in the Russia-Ukraine conflict “runs through New Delhi”.

“I love India. Look, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi is a great leader. But India, please look at what your role here is in the global economy and the greater good. What you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating the war,” Navarro said.

– ‘Laundromat for the Kremlin’: Calling India’s oil procurement strategy a “refining profiteering scheme,” he argued that the country had become a “laundromat for the Kremlin.”

“They don’t need oil, it’s a refining profiteering scheme,” Navarro said. “They use the money that they get from us when they sell us stuff… to buy Russian oil, which then is processed by refiners, and they make a bunch of money there. But then the Russians use the money to build more arms and kill Ukrainians… American taxpayers have to provide more aid… that’s insane.”

– ‘Modi’s war’: A day after the US raised tariffs on Indian products to 50 per cent, Navarro described the Russia-Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”, and said “the road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi”.

“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. Consumers, businesses and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, factories and income. And then the taxpayers lose because we have got to fund Modi’s war. The road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi,” Navarro told Bloomberg TV.

– ‘India bankrolls Russia’: The White House official argued that Washington’s punitive tariffs on New Delhi are not just about “unfair trade,” but about cutting Moscow’s “financial lifelines,” claiming that money from India’s crude purchases flows directly into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war chest.”

Breaking down what he called the “India-Russia oil mathematics,” Navarro, in a thread on X, said: “American consumers buy Indian goods while India keeps out US exports through high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. India uses our dollars to buy discounted Russian crude.”

He further claimed that 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.”

– ‘Brahmins profiteering at expense of Indian people’: Labelling New Delhi as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”, Navarro, in an interview with Fox News, alleged that the Brahmins were profiteering at the “expense of the Indian people”.

– ‘Maharaja of tariffs’: “India is the maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world. They export us a bunch of stuff. So, who gets hurt? Workers in America, taxpayers, Ukrainians. Modi is a great leader. I don’t understand why he is getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when India is the biggest democracy in the world,” the White House official said.

“I would simply say this to Indian people to understand what is going on here. You have got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people, and we want that to stop,” he added.

– ‘India needs US, not Russia’: Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China, Navarro launched a fresh salvo against India, describing the meeting as “shameful”.

“It was a shame to see Modi getting in bed as a leader of the biggest democracy in the world with the two biggest authoritarian dictators in the world-Putin and Xi Jinping. That doesn’t make any sense. I am not sure what he’s thinking,” he said.

“We hope he comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us, Europe and Ukraine, not Russia,” the White House official said.

– ‘India can’t handle truth’: Navarro, in a post on X, claimed that India’s “highest tariffs” hurt American workers, accusing New Delhi of continuing to purchase Russian oil for profit.

“India highest tariffs costs US jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine.” he wrote.

“Ukrainians/Russians die. US taxpayers shell out more,” he added.

– Navarro slams Musk after Community Notes flags his post over India’s Russian oil trade: Navarro on  Sunday lashed out at Elon Musk after his latest post on X criticising New Delhi was flagged by a relatively new community notes feature, which allows users to add “context”.

“Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap,” Navarro said, calling out the billionaire owner of the social media platform.

He later put out a poll on X, accusing the social media platform of prioritising “foreign interests”.

“Should X put up posts like one below where foreign interests masquerade as objective observers and interfere with domestic U.S. economics and politics? See SCREEN SHOT! Take poll on next post,” he wrote.