Former MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup has pushed back firmly against remarks from U.S. White House adviser Peter Navarro, saying that while India welcomes dialogue, it will not allow its decisions to be dictated by anyone.

Reacting to Navarro’s criticism of India's continued Russian oil imports—particularly his branding of India as the "maharaja of tariffs" and suggestions that the country is financing Russia through trade—Swarup emphasized, “India is a proud nation which has always followed the principle of strategic autonomy. We will not be dictated to by anyone.”

Swarup acknowledged the irritation these pressure tactics have caused, noting that despite high expectations from the personal rapport between Prime Minister Modi and former President Trump, a U.S.-India trade deal has yet to materialize. Still, he maintained that a solution remains possible and called for measured diplomacy, even as current remarks from the Trump administration are not conducive to progress.