India has dismissed comments Peter Navarro’s series of statements targeting New Delhi’s trade and foreign policy as “inaccurate and misleading”.
“We have seen inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr Navarro…we reject them,” ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday.
Senior trade advisor Peter Navarro has repeatedly criticised India since US President Donald Trump’s return to office, further straining ties between the two countries.
His latest remarks followed the implementation of punitive 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods by the US.
Speaking shortly after the tariffs came into effect, Navarro blamed New Delhi for fuelling the Russia-Ukraine conflict, calling it “Modi’s war” due to India’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Navarro accused India of running a “profiteering scheme” by refining discounted Russian crude and exporting it at a premium.
He claimed that India had bought virtually no oil from Russia prior to its invasion of Ukraine but has since raised purchases to 35 per cent.
“They don't need the oil. It's a refining profit-sharing scheme. It's a laundromat for the Kremlin. That's the reality of that,” Navarro said.
In another controversial remark, Navarro accused India’s elite of profiteering “at the expense of Indian people,” saying, “India is nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin... You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”
India supports early end to Ukraine conflict
India on Friday said it supports an early end to the Ukraine conflict and return of an enduring peace in the region.
The comments by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came amid renewed push by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
"As far as the conflict in Ukraine is concerned, we welcome all the recent efforts towards establishing peace in Ukraine," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"We hope that all parties will proceed ahead constructively. India supports an early end of the conflict and the establishment of an enduring peace," he said at his weekly media briefing.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday discussed the Ukraine conflict with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha.
Following his phone conversation with Jaishankar, Sybiha said he informed his Indian counterpart about the "current battlefield situation and Ukraine's efforts to achieve a just peace".
"We rely on India's authoritative voice and active role in supporting the full cessation of hostilities and broader international peace efforts," he said on social media.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said he and Jaishankar agreed to meet on the margins of the UN General Assembly later this month.
The Jaishankar-Sybiha talks came three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in China's Tianjin.
In the meeting, Modi conveyed to Putin that India welcomes all the recent efforts towards establishing peace in Ukraine and that it is humanity's call to find a way to resolve hostilities as soon as possible.
India has been consistently calling for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
MEA on sharing flood data with Pakistan
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said India has been sharing high-flood data with Pakistan through diplomatic channels despite the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a query on the mechanism being used to share information amid the flood situation near the border, particularly in Punjab, said, “We have been sharing high-flood data with Pakistan through our diplomatic channels as and when it is required. This sharing of data is happening through our High Commission in Islamabad.”
A week earlier, Pakistani officials alleged that flooding in Pakistan from water flowing downstream from India had been aggravated by New Delhi’s suspension of the river-sharing treaty.
Pakistan’s planning minister Ahsan Iqbal said data on water flows that India used to share under the treaty had not been passed to Pakistan quickly enough or in sufficient detail.
“We could have managed better if we had better information,” Iqbal said. “If the Indus Waters Treaty was in operation, we could have mitigated the impact.”