United States' White House advisor Peter Navarro's critique deemed unwelcome by India; refuses to comment on President Trump's remark

In a series of recent posts on social media, Peter Navarro, the former chief trade advisor in the Trump administration, has criticized India's trade policies and Russian oil purchases. This comes amid growing strains in India-US relations over tariffs on Indian goods.

During the period when the Trump administration imposed high tariffs on Indian exports, roughly around 2019 to 2020, Navarro was an outspoken critic of India. He framed India's trade policies negatively and advocated for tariffs up to 50% to pressure India as part of Trump's broader mercantilist trade strategy.

Navarro has also claimed that India's policy of buying Russian weaponry while urging US defence firms to transfer sensitive military technologies amounts to "strategic freeloading". He has gone so far as to accuse India of being an "oil money laundromat for the Kremlin".

India, however, has rejected these claims. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has no comments to offer on Trump's social media post, but he has previously rejected the criticism made by White House trade advisor Peter Navarro over India's Russian oil purchases.

India's Russian oil purchases have been a point of contention in strained US relations. Trump has criticized India over these purchases, calling them "inaccurate and misleading".

Trump's criticism comes following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. Despite the criticism, Trump posted on social media that India, Russia, and China might have a long and prosperous future together.

However, India has rejected Trump's claims of closer ties with Russia and China. It remains to be seen how these tensions will impact the future of India-US relations.

United States' White House advisor Peter Navarro's critique deemed unwelcome by India; refuses to comment on President Trump's remark