September 5, 2025

NEW DELHI: Hold your breath! A spicy controversy has hit the India-US relations! Peter Navarro, the US President Donald Trump’s trade advisor, made a fiery statement claiming Indians, especially Brahmins, are "profiting at the expense of Indians" by buying cheap Russian oil. He also said New Delhi is "indirectly funding" Russia’s war in Ukraine. India hit back strongly on Friday, calling Navarro’s words "inaccurate and misleading." MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr. (Peter) Navarro and obviously, we reject them." He added that talks between India and the US are still going on, saying, "we are committed to strengthening our partnership." Navarro, speaking to Fox News, said, "Look, Modi's a great leader. I don't understand why he's getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he's the biggest democracy in the world. So I would just simply say to the Indian people: please, understand what's going on here. You've got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop. Yeah, and we'll be watching that closely." This loaded statement lit fire across political lines in India. The BJP and the opposition got united in their backlash. Congress leader Pawan Khera slammed Navarro’s “Brahmin” tag as "baseless," telling ANI, "America should not make baseless statements like this." BJP MP Dinesh Sharma called Navarro’s words "factually wrong, culturally insensitive, and out of context" when it comes to India's economic policies. Tension is high, coming at a time when Trump’s tariffs on India have already sparked criticism, even inside the US. An appeals court recently called these tariffs unlawful. Adding fuel to the fire, Trump mocked the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit by posting a photo of PM Modi with Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. He tweeted, "Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Looks like the India-US relationship is facing some stormy weather. The drama around Navarro’s crude oil comment is another spicy twist in the tale!

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Tags: Peter navarro, India-russia relations, Brahmin remark, Us-india ties, Trump tariffs, Sco summit,