Peter Navarro Sparks Backlash In India Over ‘Brahmins Profiteering’ Remark On Russian Oil Imports

<p>Former US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s trade advisor Peter Navarro has stirred controversy with his remarks linking India&rsquo;s Russian oil imports to &ldquo;Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.&rdquo; His statement, made during an interview with Fox News, has triggered sharp political responses in India.</p>
<h2><strong>Navarro questions India&rsquo;s Russia ties</strong></h2>
<p>In his interview, Navarro criticised India&rsquo;s oil trade with Moscow while defending Trump&rsquo;s earlier move to impose 50% tariffs on Indian goods. He accused New Delhi of being &ldquo;nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin&rdquo;. While praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a &ldquo;great leader&rdquo;, Navarro questioned India&rsquo;s closeness to Russia and China, asking why the leader of the &ldquo;biggest democracy in the world&rdquo; was &ldquo;getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Also Read: <a href=”https://news.abplive.com/news/world/peter-navarro-india-laundromat-kremlin-tariffs-1797677″>’Brahmins Profiteering’: Trump Advisor Makes Casteist Remarks As He Slams India For Russian Oil Purchase</a></p>
<p>Navarro added, &ldquo;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.&rdquo;</p>
<h2><strong>Political backlash in India</strong></h2>
<p>Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi lashed out at Navarro&rsquo;s statement, describing it as evidence of his &ldquo;meltdown reaching peak level of senile.&rdquo; She called the use of caste identity in such a context &ldquo;shameful and sinister&rdquo;.</p>
<p>In another post, she wrote, &ldquo;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&rsquo;s context, this was deliberate. So please sit out on explaining this one.&rdquo;</p>
<h2><strong>TMC leaders clarify the terminology</strong></h2>
<p>Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, however, pointed out the cultural context of Navarro&rsquo;s phrasing. Sagarika Ghose explained that &ldquo;Boston Brahmin&rdquo; was once a widely used term in the US to refer to the American New England wealthy elite,&rdquo; adding that the term is still used globally to denote elites. She criticised what she called &ldquo;astonishing illiteracy on X.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Similarly, Saket Gokhale noted that Navarro hails from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the word &ldquo;Brahmin&rdquo; commonly refers to the rich and powerful. He posted, &ldquo;Classic case of ignorance (and I don&rsquo;t mean Navarro) &hellip; BJP &lsquo;ecosystem&rsquo; spokespersons should start reading some real books.&rdquo;</p>