Trump aide: Ukraine conflict is 'Modi's war'

Donald Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro targeted India’s continued purchases of Russian oil and referred to the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war”, personalising and ratcheting up the intensity of what started as a trade spat between India and the US. Officials in the Trump administration have criticised New Delhi for fuelling Russia's “war machine” in Ukraine through its substantial oil purchases.

- Shashank Mattoo

“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. Consumers, businesses, and workers lose because India's high tariffs cost us jobs, factories, and income. And then the taxpayers lose because we've got to fund Modi’s war.”

“The troubling thing to me is that the Indians are so arrogant about this. They say, we don't have higher tariffs and oh, it's our sovereignty and we can buy oil from anyone we want. India, you're the biggest democracy in the world. Act like one. Side with the democracies.”

Navarro, who serves as Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing at the White House, in a television interview.

Navarro, a former economics professor, was also a key figure in the first Trump administration. He rose to prominence due to his hawkish views on trade policy and his criticism of China.