'Brahmins profiteering' from Russia oil trade, says Navarro

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro repeated his trenchant criticism of India for buying oil from Russia, saying that “Brahmins” were profiteering at the expense of the rest of India.

- Shashank Mattoo

“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,” Navarro said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday. He also repeated his earlier criticism that India has turned into a “laundromat for the Kremlin's money” and the “maharaja of tariffs”

Navarro, who serves as senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing at the White House, has emerged as India’s most voluble detractors within the Trump Administration. Navarro has forcefully argued in favour of the 50% tariff on India levied by Washington — which includes a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil. India has called the tariffs unreasonable and unjustified.