Peter Navarro, known as US White House trade advisor and President Donald Trump’s disciple, has once again spewed venom against India and raised the issue of India buying oil from Russia.
Washington: US White House trade advisor and President Donald Trump’s henchman Peter Navarro again made a statement on India and tariffs in an interview to CNBC on Sunday (local time). Navarro claimed that India is coming to the negotiating table. Navarro once again raised the issue of India buying oil from Russia and criticized the India-China alliance.
India’s tariffs are the highest of any big country: Navarro
Navarro said, “India is coming to the negotiating table. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted a very cordial, nice and constructive tweet and President Trump responded to it. Let’s see how it works out. The two countries are still negotiating on the trade issue and working on ‘trade barriers’. But practically, we know that on the trade front, their tariffs are the highest of any major country. Their non-tariff barriers are very high. We had to deal with it like we deal with every other country that does this.”
Navarro also spoke about the US’ sudden move to stop India from buying Russian oil after 2022, saying, “There’s also the issue of India buying Russian oil, which it never did. You understand this. It never did before 2022. I mean, immediately after the invasion, Indian refiners got together with Russian refiners, and they’re acting like bandits. I mean, it’s crazy because they make money off of us in unfair trade. He said, “Well, then American workers are going to suffer, right?”
Criticised India
Navarro criticised India for its alliances with Russia and China and said, “Then they use that money to buy Russian oil, and then the Russians buy weapons with that. And then we, as taxpayers, have to pay more for that, to defend Ukraine. How is that possible? To see Modi on a platform with China, which has been a long-term existential threat to Ukraine. And with Putin as well, it was an interesting period. I don’t think he felt comfortable doing that.”
