'Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing.'
White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro -- who had earlier said that India's purchase of Russian oil is 'perpetuating' the Ukraine conflict -- escalated his attack on New Delhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In an interview to Bloomberg TV, Navarro controversially called the Ukraine conflict 'Modi's war'.
His remarks came just hours after United States President Donald Trump's 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods came into effect.
The move is expected to hit over half of India's exports to its largest market, sparing only electronics and pharmaceuticals while heavily impacting textiles, jewellery and other labour-intensive sectors.
Navarro argued that Moscow uses revenue from discounted crude sales to India to fund its 'war machine', forcing US taxpayers to bankroll Ukraine's defence.
'Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing,' Navarro said, who had earlier accused New Delhi of acting as a 'laundromat for the Kremlin'.
When asked if he meant 'Putin's war', Navarro doubled down: 'I mean Modi's war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi.'
He also accused India of 'arrogance' in defending its energy purchases and tariffs.
'India, you're the biggest democracy in the world, OK, act like one,' Navarro remarked.
India has dismissed the criticism as 'unfair and unjustified'.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has underlined that New Delhi's energy sourcing is based on market realities and the need to stabilise domestic prices.
Dr Jaishankar had pointed out that China is the largest buyer of Russian oil and the European Union the biggest purchaser of LNG.
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