U.S. President Donald Trump’s aide Peter Navarro has expressed his anger and displeasure after India snuggled with Russia and China at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the backdrop of the tariff war between New Delhi and Washington.
Navarro said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi being a democratically elected leader cosying up with “authoritarians” like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping is “shameful”.
Speaking to reporters, Navarro said, “It was a shame to see Modi, the leader of the biggest democracy in the world, getting in bed with the two biggest dictators in the world, Putin and Xi Jinping. That doesn’t make any sense.
“I’m not sure what he is thinking particularly since India has been in a cold war and sometimes in a hot war with China for decades.”
Trump’s aide even went to the extent of venting his anger at India for not engaging with the U.S. after the 50 percent tariff imposition like several other countries.
“The problem is that India literally is the Maharaja of tariffs. It has the highest tariffs of any major country in the world and it’s in denial about that… They should engage with us. They haven’t done that as Japan, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, European Union has. They simply think they continue having in their way with us. President Trump is not gonna allow that,” Navarro said.
After Modi participated in the SCO Summit and held separate bilateral talks with Jinping and Putin, Trump on Monday said that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on U.S. goods to zero, underscoring that New Delhi should have done so years ago.
The Trump administration has imposed 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 percent on Russian oil purchases, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 percent, among the highest in the world.
“They have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
He also said that the relationship between the two countries has been a “one-sided disaster”.
New Delhi said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.
India-U.S. bilateral ties witnessed a deterioration after the Trump administration imposed a massive 50 percent tariff on India.
Previously viewed as India-friendly, the Trump administration slapped a 25 percent tariff on the South Asian country for its high tariffs on American exports and another 25 percent for purchasing oil from Russia, which is fighting a war against Ukraine.
In a strong optics of diplomacy, PM Modi on Monday took a car ride with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Tianjin.
The premiers of the two countries headed for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the meet.
