India questions Trump’s claims it agreed to stop buying Russian oil | India

India has cast doubt on Donald Trump’s claims that his Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has agreed to stop buying Russian oil.

On Wednesday, Trump claimed that Modi assured him “today” that India would end its purchases of Russian oil.

“I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he [Modi] assured me today that they would not buy oil from Russia. You know, you can’t do it immediately. It’s a small process, but the process will be over soon,” Trump told reporters, before asserting that he would soon convince China of the same.

However, at a press briefing on Thursday, Indian officials appeared to dispute the US president’s account, saying there were “no telephone conversations between Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump yesterday.”

India, which maintains close relations with the Kremlin, has become one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil since the invasion of Ukraine.

This has been a significant source of contention with Washington in recent months since Trump failed to reach a peace deal with Russia. In August, the US president imposed some of the highest tariffs on India to penalize its purchases of Russian oil, accusing Delhi of helping finance Russian aggression in Ukraine. India is subject to an additional 25% import duty, on top of a base of 25%.

India has publicly stood its ground, saying it would not let the United States dictate its energy needs or interfere in its relations with Russia, which date back to the Cold War. Russia remains India’s largest arms supplier.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian government said discussions with the United States on trade and tariffs were ongoing. A statement from the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the priority was to “safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in an unstable energy scenario” and that all policies were driven by the imperative to diversify and secure India’s energy sources.

India has reaped significant profits from its purchases of discounted Russian oil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, becoming one of its largest buyers globally, just behind China.

However, this led to a serious deterioration in relations between the United States and India. The White House is increasingly seeking to accuse Delhi of financing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukraine, calling the conflict “Modi’s war.”

However, on Wednesday, the US president spoke enthusiastically about Modi. “Modi is a great man. He loves Trump,” he said.