India rejects Navarro’s remarks on Russian crude, defends energy choices as U.S. tariffs bite
NEW DELHI: India on Friday firmly rejected White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s comments criticizing its purchases of Russian crude oil, describing them as “inaccurate and misleading.”
“We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously reject them,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Navarro had accused India of acting as an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin” and engaging in “strategic freeloading” by continuing to buy Russian weapons while simultaneously urging U.S. defense firms to transfer sensitive military technologies and set up production in India. He argued that if India “wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to act like one.”
The controversy comes amid fresh trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi. U.S. President Donald Trump recently doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, including an additional 25 per cent levy directly linked to India’s purchase of Russian crude. The higher tariff rate has already come into effect, with further duties scheduled from August 27.
India has slammed the U.S. action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” questioning why New Delhi has been singled out while no punitive measures were imposed on China, the world’s largest buyer of Russian oil.
Defending its continued imports, India reiterated that its energy procurement is guided by “national interest and market dynamics.” After Western nations imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India turned to discounted Russian crude to secure affordable supplies and meet its growing domestic energy demand.
The strategy has sharply reshaped India’s import profile. Russia’s share in India’s total oil imports jumped from just 1.7 per cent in 2019–20 to 35.1 per cent in 2024–25, making Moscow the largest supplier of crude to New Delhi.
Despite U.S. criticism, Indian officials maintain that purchasing discounted Russian oil is both an economic necessity and a sovereign decision. Analysts note that while Washington has tolerated similar imports by other nations, its harsher stance on India reflects broader frictions in trade and strategic ties.
For now, New Delhi is standing firm, stressing that its energy choices are driven by pragmatic considerations rather than political alignments.
