India on Friday strongly dismissed remarks by US President Donald Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro, who had claimed that "Brahmins" were gaining from Russian oil transactions. New Delhi characterized the comments as both "inaccurate and misleading."
Navarro, trade advisor to US President Donald Trump, made an obtuse remark claiming that New Delhi has been "indirectly funding" Russia’s war in Ukraine through discounted oil purchases, and that Brahmins are "profiting at the expense of Indians".
"We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr. (Peter) Navarro and obviously, we reject them", said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
He further said: "Talks between both countries is going on and we are committed to strengthening our partnership."
During an interview with a pro-Republican Fox News, Navarro said, "Look, Modi's a great leader. I don't understand why he's getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he's the biggest democracy in the world. So I would just simply say to the Indian people: please, understand what's going on here. You've got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop. Yeah, and we'll be watching that closely."
Navarro's statement ignited backlash not only from BJP but also from the opposition in India. Congress leader Pawan Khera criticised Navarro's "Brahmin" remark to justify US tariffs on India, and called it "baseless." Speaking to ANI, Pawan Khera said, "America should not make baseless statements like this."
BJP lawmaker Dinesh Sharma also criticized the statement as "factually wrong, culturally insensitive, and out of context in terms of India's economic decisions." This was the first official reaction from the ruling party to Navarro's remarks.
The row is part of increased tension in India-US relations under Trump, who has accused New Delhi of "fueling" the war effort of Moscow through its energy imports. On Friday, Trump also attacked India by citing the recently hosted SCO summit in China, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" he said in a post.
At the same time, Trump's move to impose 50 percent tariffs on Indian products has also been criticized in the US. Political opponents have pointed to a recent appeals court decision that held the duties as illegal, piling up pressure on the administration regarding its trade policy.
