A day after his "Brahmins profiteering at the expense of Indian people" remark sparked a storm in India, President Donald Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday described the show of unity between India, Russia and China as "troublesome."
Navarro's remarks came after the public display of bonhomie by the leaders of the three countries on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday.
"It's troublesome," Navarro said at the White House on Monday when asked about the "show of unity" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It was a shame to see Modi getting in bed as the leader of the biggest democracy in the world with the two biggest authoritarian dictators in the world, Putin and Xi Jinping. That doesn't make any sense," the Trump administration's senior counselor for Trade and Manufacturing said.
His remarks, and the display of camaraderie between Modi, Putin and Xi, came against the backdrop of possibly the worst phase in India-US relations in over two decades, with the strain exacerbated by President Trump's tariff policy and constant criticism of New Delhi by his administration.
"I'm not sure what he (Modi) is thinking, particularly since India has been in a cold war and sometimes a hot war with China for decades. So we hope that the Indian leader comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us and Europe and Ukraine and not with Russia on this and he needs to stop buying the oil," Navarro said.
Navarro has been consistently targeting India over the last few days following the major downturn in ties between Washington and New Delhi.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Navarro said, “I don’t understand why he is getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he’s the biggest democracy in the world. I would just say the Indian people, please, understand what’s going on here. The Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”
The Trump administration has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.
India has called the tariffs imposed by the US "unjustified and unreasonable."
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
Russia has emerged as India's top energy supplier since the West slapped sanctions on its crude oil after the invasion of Ukraine.
