India on Thursday responded to US President Donald Trump’s claim of Prime Minister Modi’s assurance to stop purchases of Russian oil. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the current US administration has expressed interest in enhancing energy cooperation with India, adding that talks are underway.
“India is a major importer of oil and natural gas. Our constant priority has been to protect the interests of the Indian consumer in an unstable energy scenario. Our import policy is guided solely by this objective. Ensuring stable energy prices and assured supply have been the two objectives of our energy policy. This includes a broad base of our energy sources and appropriate diversification to meet market conditions,” he said. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
He added: “As for the US, we’ve been trying to expand our energy supply for many years. It’s made steady progress over the last decade. The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing.”
What did Trump say about India’s purchases of Russian oil?
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said the US was “unhappy” that India was buying Russian oil, saying the purchases were helping President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.
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The US president said that while India may not be able to stop the purchases immediately, the process of reducing them has begun.
“He (Modi) is a friend of mine, we have a great relationship… we were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because it allowed Russia to continue this ridiculous war where they lost a million and a half people. I was not happy that India was buying oil and (Modi) assured me today that they will not buy oil from Russia,” Trump said, a big step in PTI’s opinion. Now we have to do the same to get China.
“He (Modi) has assured me that no oil will be bought from Russia. I don’t know, maybe it’s a breaking story. Can I say that?… He’s not buying his oil from Russia. It’s started. He can’t do it immediately; it’s a bit of a process, but the process will be over soon,” he further said.
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The US president said the reason the US wants India to stop buying Russian oil is to put financial pressure on President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump added: “All we want from President Putin is to stop it, stop killing Ukrainians and stop killing Russians, because he’s killing a lot of Russians. It’s a war that he should have won in a week, and now it’s going into its fourth year.”
He claimed that India could resume energy trade with Moscow after the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war, saying: “If India doesn’t buy oil, it will be much easier and they won’t buy, they assured me that they will, in a short period of time, not buy oil from Russia… And after the war is over, they will go back to Russia.”
US-India relations have been strained following Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Indian goods, a measure he described as retaliation for New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil. Tensions further escalated when the administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new applications for H-1B visas, a program heavily relied upon by Indian tech professionals seeking employment in the United States.
