Trump aide sparks row with ‘Brahmins profiteering’ remark on India-Russia oil trade

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has accused India of “laundering” Russian oil to fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while controversially alleging that “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.”

In an interview with Fox News, Navarro defended the Trump administration’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, arguing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were destabilising global order.

“India is the maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world. They export us a bunch of stuff. So who gets hurt? Workers in America, taxpayers, Ukrainians. Modi is a great leader, but I don’t understand why he is getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when India is the biggest democracy in the world,” Navarro said.

Addressing Indians directly, he added: “You have got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people, and we want that to stop.”

Navarro’s remarks came as Prime Minister Modi visited China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, where he met Putin and Xi — his first trip to China in seven years.

The trade official, seen as the architect of Trump’s steep tariff policy on India, has repeatedly attacked New Delhi over its continued trade with Russia, accusing it of helping bankroll Moscow’s war in Ukraine and urging the country to “act like the democracy it claims to be.”