Amid US President Donald Trump’s claim that India will stop buying Russian oil, New Delhi on Thursday firmly reiterated its stance, saying that safeguarding the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario is the government’s priority, and the country’s energy imports “are guided entirely by this objective”.
Earlier on Wednesday, while speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “assured” him that India would stop the purchase of Russian oil.
“I was not happy that India was buying oil. And he (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big stop,” he said.
“There will be no oil. He’s not buying oil,” Reuters also quoted Trump as saying, where he added that the change would not take place immediately, but “within a short period of time”.
The US President said he would get China to “do the same thing”.
MEA’s response
“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 spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
Jaiswal defined the two major goals behind India’s energy policy, saying that it includes looking at a broader base and diversifying accordingly to meet market conditions.
“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.
India-US energy cooperation
Referring to the US, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India has been wanting to expand its energy procurement for years, something which Jaiswal has progressed at a steady rate in the last 10 years.
He added that talks over energy cooperation are underway with Washington.
The MEA spokesperson further said, “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.”
Last month, Sergio Gor, ambassador-designate of the US to India, signalled that Washington wants New Delhi to open its markets to the US crude and petroleum products.
Gor said that the two countries were headed towards resolving some issues.
“Possibilities are endless…we fully intend in these trade talks that are ongoing, to open (Indian) markets to our crude oil, petroleum products, and LNG,” Gor said, highlighting India’s middle class population. “We have countless possibilities to expand into those markets and we fully intend to do that,” Gor concluded.
Trump on India, Russian oil
The US President doubled the tariffs on Indian goods from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, citing New Delhi’s Russian oil purchase. His conflict with India’s oil and energy purchase from Russia came against the backdrop of his views on the conflict in Ukraine.
Not just Trump, several of his aides, including Peter Navarro and Howard Lutnick, have also constantly made remarks on India’s Russian oil purchases.
Thursday’s response was not the first time that India had affirmed its stance on its energy sourcing. Previously as well the MEA has stated that India is “guided by what is on offer in markets and prevailing global situation” when it comes to this.
India said that in terms of defence requirements, the sourcing is determined by “national security imperatives and strategic assessments”.
