Sangeetha G
Chennai, Aug 28:
The US President’s trade adviser dubbed the Russia-Ukraine war as ‘Modi’s war’ while claiming that India is profiting from Russian oil purchases and hurting the US economy. India can get 25 per cent tariff off if it stops buying Russian oil.
Trade adviser Peter Navarro said that tariff relief was directly linked to India’s oil decisions. “India can get 25 per cent off tomorrow if it stops buying Russian oil and helps to feed the war machine,” Navarro said while speaking to Bloomberg TV after the penalty tariffs came into effect on Wednesday.
Navarro accused India of bankrolling Russia. “By purchasing Russian oil at a discount, Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine to kill more Ukrainians,” he said.
“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. The consumers and businesses and everything lose, and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, factories, and income and higher wages. And then the taxpayers lose because we got to fund Modi’s war,” Navarro said.
“I mean Modi’s war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi,” Navarro added.
He accused New Delhi of defiance in the face of US concerns. ‘They say, Oh, it’s our sovereignty. We can buy oil from anyone we want,’” he said. “India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world, OK? Act like one.”
He also criticised India for siding with “authoritarian countries”. “China has been in quiet war with them for decades. They invaded Aksai China and your territories. These are not your friends, folks,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, said: “If the Indians don’t budge, I don’t think President Trump will”. “Part of it has been tied to the pressure we’ve been trying to put on Russia in order to secure a peace deal and save millions of lives. And then there’s the Indian intransigence about opening their markets to our products.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with Fox Business said: “I do think India’s the world’s largest democracy; the US is the world’s largest economy. I think at the end of the day we will come together”.