'Troublesome': Trump aide Navarro on Modi, Xi, Putin meet at SCO

New York/Washington | US President Donald Trump's top trade advisor Peter Navarro has called the show of unity between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping “troublesome”, saying that the Indian leader needs to be with Washington, Europe and Ukraine, not with Russia.

Navarro's remarks came after the three leaders publicly displayed bonhomie on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday.

“It's troublesome. It's troublesome,” Navarro said at the White House Monday when asked about the “show of unity” between Modi, Xi and Putin.

"It was a shame to see 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," said the Trump administration's Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing.

His remarks, and the display of camaraderie between Modi, Putin and Xi, came against the backdrop of possibly the worst phase in India-US relations in over two decades, with the strain exacerbated by President Donald Trump's tariff policy and constant criticism of New Delhi by his administration.

"I'm not sure what he (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,” Navarro said.

The Trump administration has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

India has called the tariffs imposed by the US “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.