India questioned assertions by Donald Trump that its prime minister, Narendra Modi, had consented to discontinue purchasing Russian oil.
Trump asserted on 15th October that Modi had informed him “today” that India would end its Russian oil purchase.
“I wasn’t glad that India was purchasing oil, and he [Modi] has promised me today they won’t be purchasing oil from Russia. You understand, you can’t do it instantly. It’s a bit of a process, however, the process will be over quickly,” Trump said to reporters, before saying he would soon persuade China on the same issue.
But Indian officials seemed to contradict the US president’s version in a press briefing on Thursday when they said there was “no telephonic conversation between PM Modi and US President Trump yesterday“.
India, a close ally of the Kremlin, has emerged as one of the largest buyers of Russian oil following the Ukraine invasion.
It has been a major source of tension with Washington over the past few months as Trump was unable to come to a peace agreement with Russia. In August, the US president slapped some of his highest tariffs yet on India in order to punish its buying of Russian oil as he accused Delhi of assisting in funding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. India faces an additional 25% import duties on top of an underlying 25%.
India has been openly assertive, stating that it would not allow the US to dictate its energy requirements or intrude into its relationship with Russia, which has a long history dating back to the Cold War. Russia is still India’s largest arms supplier.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian government stated that talks with the US regarding trade and tariffs were in progress. A release by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated that the priority was to “safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario” and that all policy was driven by the necessity to diversify and secure India’s energy supply.
India has reaped significant benefits from its purchase of cut-price Russian oil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, becoming one of its top purchasers globally, second only to China.
However, it has led to a severe deterioration in US-India relations. The White House has increasingly sought to accuse Delhi of bankrolling the Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukraine, describing the conflict as “Modi’s war”.
But on Wednesday, the US president spoke positively about Modi. “Modi is a great man. He loves Trump,” he stated.
