India on Thursday (October 16) strongly rejected United States President Donald Trump’s claim that New Delhi had agreed to stop buying oil from Russia, suggesting that the claims are false. Responding to media queries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was “not aware of any such conversation” between the two leaders.
The sharp rebuttal came after Trump suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil – a claim that Delhi flatly rejected and reaffirmed its commitment to pursue energy deals based on the “national interest”.
During the weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Regarding whether there was a conversation or a phone call between PM Modi and President Trump, I am not aware of any conversation between the two leaders yesterday.
What did Donald Trump claim?
Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil. The US president said that while India may not be able to cancel the contract immediately, the process has begun.
India is the second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China, and Trump slapped 25% additional tariffs on New Delhi in August over trade ties with Moscow.
The change, which was not confirmed by the Indian government, would strengthen Trump’s efforts to pressure Moscow to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
“There will be no oil. He’s not buying oil,” Trump said. The change won’t happen immediately, he said, but “over a short period of time.”
However, now the State Department has rejected such claims saying that no such talks took place between Donald Trump and PM Modi.
Moscow also responded to Trump’s claim that India had agreed to halt purchases of Russian oil, saying it was confident trade ties with Delhi would continue.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said: “We continue to cooperate with our friendly partners. There is a demand for our energy source. It is economically viable and feasible. I am confident that our partners will continue to work with us, cooperate and develop energy cooperation.”
“In the press today, we only see signals that our partners are declaring that no one can dictate anything to them and that they will choose their own path,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Regarding Trump’s claims on the oil trade, India has previously said that the country’s energy sourcing is driven by its national interests and the need to protect Indian consumers.
Randhir Jaiswal said, “India is a major importer of oil and natural gas. Our constant priority has been to protect the interests of Indian consumers in an unstable energy scenario. Our import policy is driven solely by this objective. Ensuring stable energy prices and assured supply are the two objectives of our energy policy. This includes broad establishment of energy sources and its diversification to suited market conditions.”
He continued: “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.”
