President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has described as “troublesome” the show of unity between the leaders of India, Russia and China, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to be with Washington, Europe and Ukraine, not with Russia.
Mr. Navarro’s remarks came after the public display of bonhomie by the three leaders on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday (September 1, 2025).
“It’s troublesome. It’s troublesome,” Mr. Navarro said at the White House on Monday (September 1, 2025) when asked about the “show of unity” between Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping and Mr. Vladimir Putin.
“It was a shame to see Mr. Modi getting in bed as the leader of the biggest democracy in the world with the two biggest authoritarian dictators in the world, Putin and Xi Jinping. That doesn’t make any sense,” the Trump administration’s senior counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing said.
His remarks, and the display of camaraderie between Mr. Modi, Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi, came against the backdrop of possibly the worst phase in India-U.S. relations in over two decades, with the strain exacerbated by President Trump’s tariff policy and constant criticism of New Delhi by his administration.
“I’m not sure what he (Mr. Modi) is thinking, particularly since India has been in a cold war and sometimes a hot war with China for decades. So we hope that the Indian leader comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us and Europe and Ukraine and not with Russia on this and he needs to stop buying the oil,” Mr. Navarro said.
The Trump administration has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25% levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50%, among the highest in the world.
India has called the tariffs imposed by the U.S. “unjustified and unreasonable”.
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
Russia has emerged as India’s top energy supplier since the West slapped sanctions on its crude oil after the invasion of Ukraine.