‘India a massive refining hub’: Navarro in fresh tirade after ‘Modi’s war’ remark
Peter Navarro said US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on India is not about New Delhi’s “unfair trade” but is about cutting off the financial lifeline that it extended to Putin’s war machine.
- Aug 29, 2025,
- Updated Aug 29, 2025 9:59 AM IST
A day after labelling the Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”, White House adviser Peter Navarro took it upon himself to explain India’s trade. In a series of tweets, Navarro compiled his previous tirades against India and once again called it a laundromat. He said yet again that the road to peace runs through New Delhi.
He said US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on India is not about New Delhi’s “unfair trade” but is about cutting off the financial lifeline that it extended to Putin’s war machine. He then went on to explain how the “mathematics” of India-Russia oil works.
“American consumers buy Indian goods while India keeps out US exports through high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. India uses our dollars to buy discounted Russian crude,” he said, adding that Indian refiners “with their silent Russian partners” refine and flip the black market oil for big profits on the international market. This enables Russia to pocket hard currency to fund its war, he said.
The surge of Russian oil to India is driven by Indian profiteers and carries an “added price of blood and devastation in Ukraine”.
“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 pretense of neutrality,” said Navarro.
Navarro said the proceeds go to India’s politically connected energy titans and directly into Putin’s war chest.
“We run a $50-billion trade deficit with India – and they’re using our dollars to buy Russian oil. They make a killing and Ukrainians die,” he said.
India also buys Russian weapons and also demands that US firms transfer sensitive military tech and build plants in India. “That’s strategic freeloading,” he added.
Navarro, a long-time Trump aide and a MAGA supporter, blamed former US President Joe Biden for looking the other way. “If India, the world's largest democracy, wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the US, it needs to act like one. The road to peace in Ukraine runs through New Delhi,” he said.
His renewed vitriol comes even as experts and analysts warn the Trump administration of ruining the goodwill and the carefully crafted diplomatic as well as strategic ties with New Delhi over the last 25 years. Not only has the US imposed 50 per tariff on India – which came into effect on Wednesday – there has also been a growing outrage over the H-1B visas that mostly benefit Indian workers. Office-holders in the Trump administration as well as the President himself have been on a mission to single out and penalise India for the practices that other nations follow too. For instance, it is not India but China that is the largest buyer of Russian energy. And despite criticising India and blaming it for funding the Ukraine war, the US is also looking to enter into an energy deal with Russia.
A day after labelling the Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”, White House adviser Peter Navarro took it upon himself to explain India’s trade. In a series of tweets, Navarro compiled his previous tirades against India and once again called it a laundromat. He said yet again that the road to peace runs through New Delhi.
He said US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on India is not about New Delhi’s “unfair trade” but is about cutting off the financial lifeline that it extended to Putin’s war machine. He then went on to explain how the “mathematics” of India-Russia oil works.
“American consumers buy Indian goods while India keeps out US exports through high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. India uses our dollars to buy discounted Russian crude,” he said, adding that Indian refiners “with their silent Russian partners” refine and flip the black market oil for big profits on the international market. This enables Russia to pocket hard currency to fund its war, he said.
The surge of Russian oil to India is driven by Indian profiteers and carries an “added price of blood and devastation in Ukraine”.
“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 pretense of neutrality,” said Navarro.
Navarro said the proceeds go to India’s politically connected energy titans and directly into Putin’s war chest.
“We run a $50-billion trade deficit with India – and they’re using our dollars to buy Russian oil. They make a killing and Ukrainians die,” he said.
India also buys Russian weapons and also demands that US firms transfer sensitive military tech and build plants in India. “That’s strategic freeloading,” he added.
Navarro, a long-time Trump aide and a MAGA supporter, blamed former US President Joe Biden for looking the other way. “If India, the world's largest democracy, wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the US, it needs to act like one. The road to peace in Ukraine runs through New Delhi,” he said.
His renewed vitriol comes even as experts and analysts warn the Trump administration of ruining the goodwill and the carefully crafted diplomatic as well as strategic ties with New Delhi over the last 25 years. Not only has the US imposed 50 per tariff on India – which came into effect on Wednesday – there has also been a growing outrage over the H-1B visas that mostly benefit Indian workers. Office-holders in the Trump administration as well as the President himself have been on a mission to single out and penalise India for the practices that other nations follow too. For instance, it is not India but China that is the largest buyer of Russian energy. And despite criticising India and blaming it for funding the Ukraine war, the US is also looking to enter into an energy deal with Russia.