‘Tell Navarro to Stop Being Racist’: US Embassy posts on India-US ties exactly as Modi, Putin meet at SCO – Desperate step or stern warning?

Source: WION | Original Published At: 2025-09-01 07:43:00 UTC

Key Points

• US Embassy's social media post on India-US ties timed with Modi-Putin meeting at SCO summit
• Navarro's racially charged remarks about India-Russia oil trade spark backlash
• SCO summit highlights growing India-Russia-China cooperation and multipolar world agenda
• US sanctions on Indian oil purchases strain bilateral relations
• Vacant US ambassador post to India adds ambiguity to diplomatic messaging

The timing was not lost on anyone as the US embassy shared a post on X about ties with India ‘touching new heights’. It was posted at the exact time Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was holding a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Monday (Sep 1). Coming as it did amid US President Donald Trump’s punishment of India for buying Russian oil — which his tariff tsar, Peter Navarro, claimed was fuelling Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine — netizens were quick to react.

What did the US embassy post say, even as the ambassador is yet to take charge?

Even as the post of US ambassador to India is vacant as the nominee is yet to take chage— and reportedly set to also be a regional envoy for South and Central Asia — the embassy’s social media post has raised eyebrows. It could be a stern warning, or a desperate attempt to salvage ties.

The post read: ‘The partnership between the United States and India continues to reach new heights — a defining relationship of the 21st century. This month, we’re spotlighting the people, progress, and possibilities driving us forward. From innovation and entrepreneurship to defence and bilateral ties, it’s the enduring friendship between our two peoples that fuels this journey. Follow the hashtag and be a part of #USIndiaFWDforOurPeople.’

It embedded a quote of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said: ‘The enduring friendship between our two peoples is the bedrock of our cooperation nand propels us forward as we realize the tremendous potential of our economic relationship’.

Interestingly, the X handle of the US ambassador to India has a description that says: ‘This account will remain dormant until the new U.S. Ambassador to India arrives.’ Note that the post of the envoy has been vacant for months now, before Trump appointed Sergio Gor to the post in late August. He is yet to take charge.

In a surprising twist, Rubio even promoted the hashtag #USIndiaFWDforOurPeople, adding another layer of ambiguity to the American messaging. But the US Embassy’s attempt to rally support via the hashtag may have come too little, too late.

One X user wrote: ‘Your actions and words don’t match. Tell Navarro to stop being racist.’

The user was possibly referring to Peter Navarro’s controversial remarks that ‘Brahmins’ were profiteering from the India–Russia oil trade — a statement widely condemned as racially insensitive.

Another X user posted (translated via machine translation): ‘Suddenly, the time has changed, the sentiments have changed.’

In the run-up to the SCO summit, there had been growing discussions about how groupings like SCO and BRICS could lead a move toward a de-dollarised, multipolar world— enabling trade and security cooperation outside the bounds of Western sanctions.

Perhaps that’s why the US is suddenly seeking to repair ties — after a sharp downturn in the relationship caused by Trump’s tariff decision over India’s purchase of Russian oil, effectively undoing decades of strategic partnership in a matter of days.