‘Brahmins profiteering off Indian people’: White House trade adviser Navarro makes casteist jibe to justify Trump tariffs

WASHINGTON: White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has once again taken a strident position justifying US President Donald Trump’s decision to levy a 50 per cent tariff on imports from India, now making a caste-based remark on the issue and accusing Brahmins of the country of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people”.

Referring to India as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”, Navarro, during an interview with Fox News last Monday, accused New Delhi of enabling trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances that run counter to US interests. He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy approach while calling him a “great leader”, suggesting that India’s engagement with Russia and China undermines its status as the world’s largest democracy.

“And on top of that, by the way, 25 per cent or 50 per cent 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”, the White House trade adviser said.

Navarro: Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people pic.twitter.com/N5kld8FQYY

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“So, you know, look, 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 Sunday, on the sidelines of the SCO leaders’ summit, during which both leaders welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in October 2024.

PM Modi and Xi Jinping, during their bilateral meeting in Tianjin, recognised the role of India and China’s economies in stabilising the global trade, according to a Ministry of External Affairs statement on Sunday. 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. (ANI)