‘This is sabotage, pure and simple’: Asia expert after Navarro labels Ukraine war ‘Modi’s war’

It is Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, not Narendra Modi’s, unlike what Washington would like to claim, said adviser and Asia expert Evan A Feigenbaum. The expert said that at this point, this sounds like sabotage, referring to the 25 years of painstaking diplomacy that made New Delhi and Washington strong allies.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who has been vocal about his criticism of India, took it up a notch and labelled the Ukraine war, “Modi’s war”. Reacting to his statements, Feigenbaum said, “The conflict in Ukraine is Putin's war, not "Modi's war" and anyone who thinks this patently ridiculous formulation is going to provide leverage with New Delhi is beyond delusional. At this point, this is sabotage, pure and simple. And it is hard to escape the conclusion that some people on the U.S. side are arsonists who are deliberately torching 25 years of work to build US-India relations.”

Navarro claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was funding “the war machine”. He reiterated his earlier statement that the “road to peace runs through New Delhi”. The adviser said India purchasing Russian oil at a discount is helping Moscow and harming the US, which in turn has to finance Ukraine.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Navarro said everyone in “America loses because of what India is doing”. “Consumers, businesses, workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, factories, and income and higher wages. And then the taxpayers lose, because we’ve got to fund Modi’s war,” he added.

The statement by Trump’s adviser came after the US' 50 per cent tariff on India came into effect on Wednesday. While key products such as electronics and pharmaceuticals are exempt for now, sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, agri and processed food, shrimp and seafood, handicrafts, and metals would be impacted.

Navarro is not the only on in the Trump administration to have criticised India. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also accused India of profiteering from the Ukraine war, even as the US is in talks to strike an energy deal themselves with Moscow.

“What’s troubling to me is that the Indians are so arrogant about this. They say, ‘Oh, we don’t have higher tariffs. Oh, it’s our sovereignty. We can buy oil from anyone we want.’ India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world, OK? Act like one,” Navarro went on.

India is a key buyer of Russian crude but it is China that remains the biggest buyer. However, Washington’s stance on China buying Russian oil has been rather soft. The US has in fact extended the tariff truce that saw Washington and Beijing impose tit-for-tat tariffs on each other.