The Congress party on Sunday attacked the Modi government over US President Donald Trump’s remarks that India was going to buy oil from Venezuela instead of Iran. The opposition party said the US leader continued to provide “information about what our own government has done or will do”.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (local time) that India has already “sealed” a deal to buy oil from Venezuela, adding that China is also “welcome” to buy oil from the South American country.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, according to news agency ANI, “China is welcome to come and make a lot of money from oil. We’ve already made a deal. India is coming and they’re going to buy Venezuelan oil instead of Iran. So we’ve already drafted the deal.”
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh shared the audio of Trump’s remarks on X.
“He (Trump) told us that Operation Sindoor has been stopped. He told us that India has stopped buying Russian oil. And now this,” the Congress leader said.
“President Trump continues to give us information about what our own government has done or will do,” Ramesh said on X.
Trump’s comments came a day after the US told Delhi it could soon resume purchases of Venezuelan oil to help replace oil imports from Russia, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The comment also comes at a time of escalating tensions between Iran and the US, with the Trump administration pushing Tehran for talks.
The US push to ship Venezuelan oil to India comes as Washington seeks to cut oil revenues that fund Russia’s war against Ukraine. Trump imposed 25% tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan oil, including India, in March last year.
Trump previously said Venezuela offered Washington “50 million barrels of oil” worth $5.2 billion and that he agreed to the deal.
After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump made it clear that Washington would “manage” the South American nation during his transition, demanding “full access to oil and other things in their country.”
Trump’s comments also confirm a recent report by New York news site Semafor that the US has made its first sale of $500 million worth of Venezuelan oil, news agency ANI reported.
