You have no claim over our forex reserves… India lashes out at the U.S. openly for the first time

White House State Advisor Peter Navarro stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should seek approval from the United States before utilizing its U.S. dollar reserves.

The bigger the fish, the deeper the net — this saying fits the U.S. perfectly. America often tries to trap the world in its web, but India has always looked it straight in the eye and replied firmly: ‘You have no claim over our forex reserves.’ Recently, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should use its U.S. dollar reserves only with America’s approval, and especially not for buying oil from Russia. This time, however, India did not remain silent. Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal delivered such a strong rebuttal that it left Washington stunned.

Recently, Peter Navarro wrote an article in the Financial Times specifically targeting India. He argued that the U.S. has a $40 million trade surplus with India, and that this money is being held in the Reserve Bank of India’s foreign reserves. According to Navarro, India is using these U.S. dollars to purchase oil from Russia. He bluntly stated that Washington wants India to use its dollar reserves only for purposes approved by the U.S.

This is not the first time America has tried such tactics. In the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. attempted to dictate similar terms to Germany, telling its central bank that dollars held in reserve could not be used for buying gold or trading with third countries, but only for trade with America itself.

Now, Washington appears to be applying the same old strategy to India. In an interview with CNBC, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant remarked that while China’s dependence on Russian crude oil had risen only slightly, India’s imports had surged more sharply. He pointed out that before 2022, about 13% of China’s oil imports came from Russia, compared to 16% now, suggesting that China had a more diversified supply.

Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal strongly criticized Besant’s remarks on social media. Besant had defended Washington’s decision to impose additional duties on India for its imports of Russian oil, while sparing China from similar measures. Sibal accused him of actively contributing to tensions with India based on false claims. He highlighted that China’s reliance on Russian crude was, in fact, significantly higher than Besant suggested. According to him, China imported $62.59 billion worth of Russian crude in 2024, and by July 2025 had become the largest importer of Russian oil, followed by India and Turkey.

Sibal also emphasized that the Power of Siberia pipeline, operated by Gazprom, carries gas from Eastern Siberia to China and is a crucial part of Russia’s energy strategy as well as a major source of gas for China.