On 19th October, the United States President Donald Trump claimed that he had a conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and insisted that India should no longer purchase Russian oil. He again threatened to maintain the “massive” tariffs on Indian goods in place if New Delhi did not comply. “I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” he claimed.
“But if they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that,” he added when confronted concerning India’s assertion that it was unaware of any discussions between Trump and Modi.
New Delhi’s strong response
On 16th October, India had refuted Trump’s statements that PM Modi had promised him that New Delhi would stop importing Russian crude oil. “As per my information, there was no phone conversation between PM Modi and President Trump yesterday,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal informed. He further conveyed that the last such call between the two leaders transpired on 9th October.
India’s dedication to national interests was stressed by Jaiswal, who clarified that the goal of energy import regulations is to provide stabilityfor Indian consumers in the face of an unpredictable international market. He emphasised, “Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions.”
India is not considering stopping its energy supplies from Russia, according to officials with knowledge of the situation. “India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario,” Jaiswal highlighted.
“Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,” he further noted.
The response came a day after Trump’s claim that PM Modi had assured him that India would not purchase oil from Russia. “We were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that lets Russia continue with this ridiculous war. It (process) has started. He can’t do it immediately. It’s a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over soon,” he alleged while referring to the Indian premier as a “friend” and “great leader.”
Trump doubles down on his claims
Meanwhile, Trump reiterated his claim after New Delhi rebutted him and stressed that New Delhi has already “de-escalated and more or less stopped” purchasing oil from Moscow. “India is not going to be buying Russian oil anymore, and Hungary is sort of stuck because they have one pipeline that’s been there for years, and they’re inland; they don’t have sea, and I spoke with their leader but India will not be buying oil from Russia,” he announced during a bilateral lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 17th October.
“They already de-escalated and more or less stopped. They are pulling back. They bought about 38 per cent of the oil, and they wouldn’t be doing it anymore,” he further mentioned.
Washington raised taxes on India imports, 50% including 25% additional for buying Russian oil, which deteriorated relations between the world’s two biggest democracies. The move was deemed “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” by India. Furthermore, PM Modi repeatedly outlined that India will not compromise on its interests.
According to commodities monitoring firm Kpler, India’s imports of Russian oil are expected to increase by almost 20% this month to 1.9 million barrels per day as Russia increases shipments in response to Ukrainian drones attacking its refineries.
