White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro has renewed his criticism of India, questioning why Americans are paying for Artificial Intelligence in India.

Mr. Navarro’s comments on Saturday (January 17, 2026) came amid a strain in India-U.S. ties, which began after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 50% tariff on New Delhi, including a 25% additional duty for its purchase of Russian crude oil.

In an interview on Real America’s Voice, Mr. Navarro said,”…It’s like, why are Americans paying for AI in India? Chat GPT (is) operating on U.S. soil, using American electricity, servicing large users of Chat GPT, for example, in India and China and elsewhere around the world. So that’s another issue that’s got to be dealt with.”

His comments came as ties between New Delhi and Washington are reeling under strain on several other issues apart from tariffs, including Mr. Trump’s claim of ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and Washington’s new immigration policy.

Last year, Mr. Navarro consistently ranted against India for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil and high tariffs, calling India the “Maharajah of tariffs.”

He had also termed India’s purchases of Russian oil as “blood money” and said Delhi didn’t buy oil from Moscow in large quantities before the Ukraine conflict.

New Delhi has maintained that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

In a diatribe targeting the BRICS nations, Mr. Navarro had said the “bottom line” is that none of the countries in the grouping can “survive if they don’t sell to the United States. And when they sell to the United States, their exports, they’re like vampires sucking our blood dry with their unfair trade practices.”

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.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said India’s purchases of Russian crude were funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and had to stop, adding that New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China.”

“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to start acting like one,” Mr. Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times.

EXPLAINED | Will India cave in to U.S. pressure on Russian oil?

The Ministry of External Affairs has previously said India is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the United States and European Union continue to purchase goods from Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump levied an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods earlier this month, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil, taking total tariffs on imports from India to 50%.

“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Mr. Navarro said.

DATA | Donald Trump’s criticism of India for its oil and arms trade with Russia is factual but illogical

The adviser also said it was risky to transfer cutting-edge U.S. military capabilities to India as New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting India from Monday (August 18, 2025) for talks on the disputed border between the two countries.

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A planned visit by U.S. trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29 has been called off, a source said over the weekend, delaying talks on a proposed trade agreement and dashing hopes of relief from additional U.S. tariffs on Indian goods from August 27.