Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Finding President Donald Trump’s and his own rants against India going down the drain, a deeply frustrated White House trade advisor, Peter Navarro, on Sunday spewed venom against New Delhi, again, claiming that “Brahmins are profiteering” in the South Asian nation currently locking horns with the US on the tariff issue.
In a racist slur against India, the Hinduphobe economist stirred controversy by making casteist remarks while defending US President Trump’s 50 percent tariff on Indian imports. In a Fox News interview, he accused India’s Brahmins of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people” and labelled the country a “laundromat for the Kremlin.” |
Referring to India as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin,” Navarro accused New Delhi of enabling trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances that run counter to US interests.
He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy approach even while calling him a “great leader,” suggesting that India’s engagement with Russia and China undermines its status as the world’s largest democracy.
“And on top of that, by the way, 25 percent or 50 percent is because India is the Maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world. They won’t let us sell to them. So who gets hurt, workers in America, taxpayers in America… “Ukrainians in cities are getting killed by Russian drones,” he ranted.
So, you know, look, Modi’s a great leader… But I don’t understand why he’s getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping…when he’s the leader of the biggest democracy in the world. 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,” the media reported him as saying.
Last week, he even claimed that the Ukraine conflict was actually the “Modi War.”
His remarks followed PM Modi’s bilateral engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, on the sidelines of the SCO leaders’ Summit, during which both leaders welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in October 2024.
They also recognised the role of India and China’s economies in stabilising the global trade, according to a Ministry of External Affairs statement on Sunday.
The statement came as the world is grappling with President Trump’s tariffs, which the US Appeals Court has itself ruled as “illegal.”
Earlier on Friday also, Navarro accused India of profiting from Russian oil in scalding remarks.
“India’s Big Oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin. Indian refiners buy cheap Russian oil, process it, and export fuels to Europe, Africa, and Asia – shielded from sanctions under the pretence of neutrality,” he said in a series of posts on X.