Former US President Donald Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro has stirred controversy with his remarks linking India’s Russian oil imports to “Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.” His statement, made during an interview with Fox News, has triggered sharp political responses in India.
Navarro questions India’s Russia ties
In his interview, Navarro criticised India’s oil trade with Moscow while defending Trump’s earlier move to impose 50% tariffs on Indian goods. He accused New Delhi of being “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”. While praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great leader”, Navarro questioned India’s closeness to Russia and China, asking why the leader of the “biggest democracy in the world” was “getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping.”
Navarro added, “I would just say the Indian people, please, understand what's going on here. The Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”
Political backlash in India
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi lashed out at Navarro’s statement, describing it as evidence of his “meltdown reaching peak level of senile.” She called the use of caste identity in such a context “shameful and sinister”.
In another post, she wrote, “The usage of the word Brahmin (yes elite Boston Brahmins US context am aware) by someone senior in US Administration cannot come out of the blue in India’s context, this was deliberate. So please sit out on explaining this one.”
TMC leaders clarify the terminology
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, however, pointed out the cultural context of Navarro’s phrasing. Sagarika Ghose explained that “Boston Brahmin” was once a widely used term in the US to refer to the American New England wealthy elite,” adding that the term is still used globally to denote elites. She criticised what she called “astonishing illiteracy on X.”
Similarly, Saket Gokhale noted that Navarro hails from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the word “Brahmin” commonly refers to the rich and powerful. He posted, “Classic case of ignorance (and I don’t mean Navarro) … BJP ‘ecosystem’ spokespersons should start reading some real books.”