Navarro: Modi is a great leader, but India is the "laundry of the Kremlin"

White House trade advisor Navarro has been unyielding towards India recently. In an interview with American media, he directly accused India of "acting as the laundry of the Kremlin" and emphasized that India does not need Russian oil, so the U.S. will not extend the implementation period for the 50% tariff imposed on India.

According to a report by The Times of India on August 22, citing Navarro's remarks in an interview with American media, "India seems unwilling to acknowledge its role in the Ukraine-Russia war, it just doesn't want to." He further criticized that India importing Russian oil is merely "a plan to profit from refining," saying, "India is a laundry, washing money for the Kremlin."

However, after his criticism, Navarro suddenly showed emotion: "I love India. Listen, Modi is a great leader. But, please, India, look at your role in the global economy. What you are doing now is not creating peace, but prolonging the war."

Regarding the upcoming tariffs, Navarro explained that the reason for the U.S. imposing tariffs on India is clear, 25% because India has "cheated" the U.S. in trade, and 25% because India purchases Russian oil.

However, Navarro previously pointed out in a column in the Financial Times: "India's reliance on Russian crude oil is opportunistic, seriously undermining the world's efforts to isolate Putin's war economy."

Trump plans to impose a 50% tariff on India on August 27, half of which is a punitive tariff for purchasing Russian oil, and the other half for trade "cheating."

Navarro listed: "India has higher tariffs and higher non-tariff barriers against the U.S. There is a huge trade deficit between the U.S. and India, which harms American workers and American companies." He accused India of using the money earned from selling to the U.S. to buy Russian oil, then handing it over to refineries for processing, "making a big profit" from it.

He angrily said, "So American taxpayers have to pay more money to provide military aid to Ukraine. It's crazy!"

Navarro finally emphasized, "President Trump sees this game very clearly... In many ways, he believes the path to peace goes through India." For this reason, he reiterated that Trump will not extend the schedule for imposing additional tariffs.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841144757278728/

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