Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro has triggered controversy in India after he claimed on Fox News that “Brahmins are profiteering off the Indian people” while defending the US decision to impose 50% tariffs on Indian goods.
Navarro alleged that Indian refiners were buying discounted Russian oil, processing it, and reselling it at higher prices, indirectly aiding Moscow’s war effort.
The comment has been widely criticised in India as casteist and offensive. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi called it “shameful,” while Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said the remark echoed outdated colonial stereotypes.
“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,” Chaturvedi wrote on X.
The controversy comes at a time when India-US trade relations are under strain, with Washington citing New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian crude as a key concern.
