Just as Donald Trump continues to claim that India will significantly reduce its purchase of Russian oil by the end of the year and that he was personally assured of this by “Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, Congressman Shashi Tharoor attacked the US President for making the statement on behalf of New Delhi.
Speaking to ANI, Tharoor asked President Trump not to announce India’s decisions to the world as New Delhi does not speak for Washington DC.
Shashi Tharoor said, “I really don’t think it’s appropriate for Trump to announce India’s decisions. I think India will announce its decisions. We don’t tell the world what Trump will do. I think Trump shouldn’t tell the world what India will do.”
Earlier on Wednesday, October 22 (US local time), Donald Trump claimed that India would significantly reduce Russian oil imports by the end of the year, citing “prime minister Narendra Modi’s assurance”.
Trump said the phasing out of Russian oil imports would be gradual, adding that India would reduce its purchases to “almost nothing” by the end of the year.
“India, as you know, told me they’re going to stop. It’s a process; you can’t just stop it. But by the end of the year, they’re going to be next to nothing. That’s a big deal, that’s almost 40 percent of the oil. India has been great. He spoke with Prime Minister Modi yesterday and they were absolutely great,” President Trump said.
Later, Donald Trump also warned that New Delhi would continue to pay “massive” tariffs unless it reduced its purchase of Russian oil. “I spoke to Indian Prime Minister Modi and he said he will not do things with Russian oil.
India has so far denied any conversation between Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump regarding the purchase of Russian oil. 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.
“India is a major importer of oil and gas. Our constant priority has been to protect the interests of Indian consumers in an unstable energy scenario,” he added.
When asked about the Indian government, which said it was not aware of any conversation, the US president replied: “But if that’s what they want to say, then they’re just going to continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want that.”
This comes as Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods and urged New Delhi to diversify its energy sources.
