U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s show of camaraderie with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, calling it “troublesome.”
Speaking at the White House, Navarro said, “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,” according to the Indian Express.
His remarks come amid one of the lowest points in India–U.S. relations in two decades, with ties strained by Trump’s tariff policies and New Delhi’s continued imports of discounted Russian crude. The Trump administration has imposed a combined 50% tariff on Indian goods, along with extra levies on Russian oil imports, accusing India of “profiteering.”
India has defended its Russian crude purchases as a matter of national interest, arguing that its energy policy is guided by market needs. Since Western sanctions on Moscow, Russia has become India’s largest energy supplier.
Navarro, however, alleged that China was using India as a transshipment hub to bypass sanctions and described New Delhi’s oil trade as exploitative. Citing The Hindu, he said, “This is nothing but profiteering,” claiming that India was buying discounted Russian oil and re-exporting refined products to Europe and Asia at premium rates.
