Navarro renews attack on Delhi, asks why Americans ‘paying for AI in India’
New York/Washington (PTI): White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has renewed his criticism of India, questioning why Americans are paying for Artificial Intelligence in India.
Navarro's comments on Saturday came amid a strain in India-US ties, which began after US President Donald Trump slapped a 50 per cent tariff on New Delhi, including a 25 per cent additional duty for its purchase of Russian crude oil.
In an interview on Real America's Voice, Navarro said,"…It’s like, why are Americans paying for AI in India? Chat GPT (is) operating on US 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 Trump's claim of ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and Washington's new immigration policy.
Last year, 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, 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."
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Wildfires race across Chile, leaving 15 dead, forcing thousands to flee
Penco (Chile) (AP): Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 15 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed scores of homes, authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heat wave.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country's central Biobio region and the neighbouring Nuble region, around 500 kilometres south of Santiago, the capital.
The emergency designation allows greater coordination with the military to rein in two dozen wildfires that have so far blazed through 8,500 hectares and prompted 50,000 people to evacuate, according to Chilean Security Minister Luis Cordero.
“All resources are available,” Boric wrote on X.
But local officials reported that for hours on Sunday, destruction was everywhere and help from the federal government was nowhere.
“Dear President Boric, from the bottom of my heart, I have been here for four hours, a community is burning and there is no (government) presence,” said Rodrigo Vera, the mayor of the small coastal town of Penco in the Biobio region. “How can a minister do nothing but call me to tell me that the military is going to arrive at some point?”
Firefighters were struggling to extinguish the flames, but strong winds and scorching weather hampered their efforts Sunday with temperatures topping 38 C (100 F).
Residents said that the fires took them by surprise after midnight, trapping them in their homes.
“Many people didn't evacuate. They stayed in their houses because they thought the fire would stop at the edge of the forest,” said John Guzman, 55, surveying the scene in Penco, where smoke blanketed the sky in an orange haze. “It was completely out of control. No one expected it."
Although the total number of homes burned nationwide remained unclear, one municipality of Concepcion in Biobio reported 253 homes destroyed.
“We fled running, with the kids, in the dark,” said Juan Lagos, 52, also in Penco. The fire engulfed most of the city, burning cars, a school and a church.
Charred bodies were found across fields, homes, along roads and in cars.
“From what we can see, there are people who died ... and we knew them well," said Víctor Burboa, 54. "Everyone here knew them.”
