MEA dismisses Navarro’s claim that India is a “money laundromat for the Kremlin.”
Ties with Washington strained after Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods.
India says Russian crude purchases surged to 35 per cent of imports due to affordability post-Ukraine war.
India on Friday denounced the "inaccurate and misleading" remarks made by White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro over New Delhi's purchase of Russian crude oil.
"We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously reject them," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
According to PTI, while calling on American defence companies to transfer key military technologies and establish manufacturing facilities in India, Navarro this week accused India of becoming a "oil money laundromat for the Kremlin" and called it "strategic freeloading" for New Delhi to keep purchasing Russian weaponry.
"If India, the world's largest democracy, wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the US, it needs to act like one," he said, in a series of social media posts attacking New Delhi.
Since President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Indian commodities to a staggering 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duty for India's purchase of Russian crude oil, relations between New Delhi and Washington have deteriorated.
The 25 per cent tariff is already in place, and more taxes are expected to be imposed starting on August 27.
India referred to the US action as "unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable" and even questioned why it was singled out for a penalty. Remarkably, China, the biggest importer of Russian crude oil, has not faced any sanctions from the US.
PTI reported that India has been defending its purchase of Russian crude oil by arguing that market forces and national interest dictate its energy procurement.
After Western nations sanctioned Moscow and boycotted its supplies due to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India resorted to buying Russian oil at a bargain.
As a result, Russia's share of India's total oil imports grew from 1.7 per cent in 2019–20 to 35.1 per cent in 2024–25, making it the country's largest oil supplier.
