India’s Russian crude oil buying has to stop, US adviser Peter Navarro says

India’s purchases of Russian crude has to stop for it’s funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said.

“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one,” Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times. “India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs.”

US President Donald Trump has slapped an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil, taking total tariffs on imports from India to 50%. India, however, maintains that the country is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the United States and the European Union continue to purchase goods from Russia.

Navarro, in the opinion piece, also said it was risky to transfer cutting-edge US military capabilities to India as New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China”.

Long-time rivals China and India are quietly and cautiously strengthening ties against the backdrop of Trump’s unpredictable approach to both. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India from Monday for talks on the disputed border between the two countries.

A planned visit by US trade negotiators to New Delhi from 25-29 August has been called off, a source said over the weekend, delaying talks on a proposed Indian-US trade deal and dashing hopes of relief from additional US tariffs on Indian goods from 27 August.