White House trade advisor Peter Navarro under fire for baseless remarks on India amid tariff tensions.
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday rejected recent statements made by Donald Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro when the latter had called Ukraine war as ‘Modi’s war’.
“We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statement made by Peter Navarro and obviously we reject them,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during the weekly presser on external affairs in New Delhi.
What Did Peter Navarro exactly said?
Peter Navarro, in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week, had alleged, “India is helping feed the Russian war machine. I mean Modi’s war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi.”
However, the MEA has completely rejected baseless claims by Trump’s aide.
On ties with Washington, Jaiswal underlined the importance of the bilateral relationship.
“We have also spoken about it earlier. This relationship between the United States and India is very important for us. Both our countries share a comprehensive global strategic partnership, which is anchored in our shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties,” he said.
“This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges. We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to, and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,” he added.
Jaiswal also highlighted ongoing cooperation between the two countries, stating, “As you would have seen, I would draw your attention to a joint military exercise that is underway in Alaska. A few days ago, there was a 2+2 inter-sessional meeting… Talks between both countries are going on, and we are committed to strengthening our partnership.”
On trade issues, the MEA spokesperson affirmed that India “continues to remain engaged with the US side on trade issues.”
Not Just ‘Modi’s War’, Peter Navarro Also Made ‘Brahmins Profiteering‘ Remark
In what appeared as a racist statement by Donald Trump’s aide, Peter Navarro made another baseless claim saying that Brahmins were profiteering at the expense of Indian people.
Justifying Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on India, Navarro said, “You’ve got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people,” as he hit out at India for purchasing Russian oil while US was spending to safeguard Ukraine.
With inputs from ANI