In yet another attack on India, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro on Monday said that “Brahmins” are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people and it needs to “stop”.
Referring to India as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin,” Navarro during an interview with Fox News on September 1, 2025, once again accused New Delhi of enabling trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances that run counter to US interests.
He said, “And on top of that, by the way, 25% or 50% is because India is the Maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world. They won’t let us sell to them, so who gets hurt, workers in America, taxpayers in America… Ukrainians in cities are getting killed by Russian drones.”
“Modi’s a great leader… But I don’t understand why he’s getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping…when he’s the leader of the biggest democracy in the world. 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,” he added.
His remarks followed Prime Minister Modi’s bilateral engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 31, 2025, on the sidelines of the SCO leaders’ summit.
The statement comes as the world is grappling with US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which the US Appeals Court has itself ruled as “illegal.”
This is not the first time that Navarro has made such remarks to justify Trump’s tariffs on India. Earlier on Friday, Navarro accused India of profiting from Russian oil in scalding remarks.
“India’s Big Oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin. Indian refiners buy cheap Russian oil, process it, and export fuels to Europe, Africa, and Asia – shielded from sanctions under the pretence of neutrality,” he said in a series of posts on X.
