White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has strongly condemned India’s continued purchases of Russian oil and defence equipment. In an opinion column for the Financial Times, he warned that the United States would “hit India where it hurts” unless New Delhi rethinks its policy. He described India’s energy trade with Moscow as “opportunistic” and “corrosive” to the global campaign aimed at isolating Russia’s economy.
Linking Trade and Ukraine War
Navarro, once a professor of economics and a leading trade adviser during Donald Trump’s first presidency, connected India’s trade practices to the war in Ukraine. He accused India of using dollars earned from its trade with America to buy Russian crude.
“As Russia continues to hammer Ukraine, helped by India’s financial support, American (and European) taxpayers are then forced to spend tens of billions more to help Ukraine’s defence. Meanwhile, India keeps slamming the door on American exports through high tariffs and trade barriers. More than 300,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed, while Nato’s eastern flank grows more exposed and the west foots the bill for India’s oil laundering,” Navarro wrote.
Tariffs Escalate Tensions
India has resisted Washington’s push for a Free Trade Agreement, refusing to lower protections for its agriculture, dairy, and MSME sectors. In response, Trump on July 30 imposed 25% tariffs on Indian exports to the US. He later announced an additional 25% levy effective next week as punishment for New Delhi’s Russian oil imports. India’s foreign ministry dismissed the measures as “unreasonable” and “extremely unfortunate.”
Charges Against Indian Refiners
Navarro further accused Indian refiners of “profiteering” by purchasing Russian oil at discounted rates and re-exporting processed petroleum products to Europe, Africa, and Asia. He argued that the surge in Russian crude imports after 2022 was not for India’s domestic needs but for financial gain abroad.
Criticising earlier US policy, he said, “The Biden administration largely looked the other way at this strategic and geopolitical madness. The Trump administration is confronting it.” He added that Trump’s new tariffs placed Indian exports at a serious disadvantage compared to rival nations.
A Two-Pronged US Strategy
According to Navarro, Washington’s approach combines restricting India’s access to the US market and cutting off what he described as India’s financial support to Moscow. “This two-pronged policy will hit India where it hurts — its access to US markets even as it seeks to cut off the financial lifeline it has extended to Russia’s war effort,” he argued. He also warned, “If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one.”
Wider Trump Administration Pushback
Navarro’s comments add to growing criticism from Trump officials about India’s ties with Russia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller have also raised concerns.
New Focus on Defence Technology Transfers
Extending his criticism, Navarro also targeted defence technology cooperation between the US and India. He argued that building factories in India and transferring sensitive technologies did not benefit America’s trade balance. Instead, he accused India of “cozying up to both Russia and China.”
Pushback from Former US Officials
Not everyone agrees with Navarro’s stance. Evan Feigenbaum, a former US diplomat who served under George W. Bush, questioned the administration’s decision to allow the article’s publication.
“The larger issue is that the secretary of State and other principals authorised this piece. So those who know better and are supposed to balance American interests either agree with it, don’t agree with it but authorised it anyway, or just don’t care,” Feigenbaum said.
Calling it a misguided policy shift, he added, “This completes a strange narrative arc from Washington and has finally shifted US policy from a trade war and strategic friction with China to a trade war and strategic friction with India instead. I’ll say it flatly: that is just strategic malpractice.”
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