Washington — U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has launched a blistering attack on India for ramping up imports of Russian oil, accusing New Delhi of running a “profiteering scheme” that helps Moscow fund its war in Ukraine.
Navarro said punitive tariffs of 50 per cent on Indian goods — including a 25 per cent levy tied specifically to energy ties with Russia — will take effect next week. “India virtually bought no Russian oil before the Ukraine invasion… now it’s 35 per cent of their needs. They don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin,” he told reporters outside the White House.
India, now Russia’s largest oil customer, accounts for more than a third of Moscow’s exports, according to Kasatkin Consulting. The U.S. claims Indian refiners are buying discounted crude and selling refined products at premium prices abroad, from Europe to Africa and Asia. Navarro branded the practice “purely profiteering.”
New Delhi has pushed back sharply. During a recent trip to Moscow, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said Washington had previously encouraged India to buy Russian oil to help stabilise global markets. “We are perplexed by these threats,” he said. “The Americans themselves told us to ensure energy stability — including sourcing oil from Russia.”
Despite the tough rhetoric, Navarro called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a great leader” but urged India to reconsider its role. “What you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating war,” he said, arguing that money spent on Russian oil translates into weapons used against Ukraine.
The clash comes as India seeks to ease tensions with China, with both sides recently agreeing to explore demarcating their disputed border. Navarro accused New Delhi of “cosying up to Xi Jinping,” while critics in India have questioned why Washington has not imposed similar penalties on China — the largest buyer of Russian crude.
The U.S. tariffs, set to be among the steepest ever levied on India, threaten to deepen a growing rift in relations between the two countries. With India now dependent on Russia for more than a third of its crude imports, the dispute underscores how energy security has become entangled in the geopolitics of the Ukraine war.