Peter Navarro has blasted New Delhi for continuing to purchase Russian oil despite US objections

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has accused India of arrogance for defying US demands to stop purchases of Russian oil.

US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% on Wednesday in an effort to dissuade New Delhi from further Russian imports. The duties cover more than half of India's exports to the US, its largest market. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for increased self-reliance and stated that India is willing to endure the tariffs.

"What's troubling to me is that the Indians are so arrogant about this. They say: 'oh, it's our sovereignty, we can buy oil from anyone when we want'," Navarro said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.

"I'm puzzled, ok? Modi's a great leader... this is a mature democracy with intelligent people running it, and they look us boldfaced in the eye... they say: 'we're not going to stop buying Russian oil'," he added.

Navarro argued that US taxpayers end up feeling the brunt of India's purchases of Russian oil, as they translate into Moscow's successes on the battlefield. "And then the next thing that happens, of course, is Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says, give us some more money," he said.

The presidential aide went on to call the Ukraine conflict "Modi's war,"arguingthat "the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi."

Last week, Navarro labeled India a "laundromat for the Kremlin."

Responding to criticism of Russian oil purchases, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last week that nations buy refined petroleum products from India of their own free will. "Nobody forces you to buy it. Europe buys, America buys, so you don't like it, don't buy it," he quipped.

New Delhi, already the biggest buyer of Russian oil, is set to increase imports next month, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing industry sources.

(RT.com)