‘Priority is to…’: India responds to Trump’s claim of New Delhi won’t buy Russia oil claim

Issue of purchase of Russian oil has been a bone of contention between the US and India for some time now. Donald Trump has been pressurising PM Modi to not buy Russian oil which according to him is indirectly fueling the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a strong worded reply, India on Thursday responded to US President Donald Trump‘s claim that New Delhi won’t buy Russian oil. India said that in a volatile energy scenario India’s consistent priority is to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer.

What India responded?

“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. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective,” Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

“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,” the statement added.

“Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade. The current Administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,” it said.

What Trump had said?

Trump has claimed that his “friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia, a move he described as a “big step” toward increasing pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

India’s continuing purchase of petroleum products from Russia, notwithstanding Western sanctions, has become a major issue that resulted in a severe downturn in ties between New Delhi and Washington.

Speaking to reporters at his Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said the US was “not happy” that India was buying Russian crude, arguing such purchases helped finance President Vladimir Putin’s war.

“He (Modi) is a friend of mine, we have a great relationship… we were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that let Russia continue on with this ridiculous war where they’ve lost a million and a half people,” the US president said in response to a question.