India says consumers on priority after Trump comments on stopping Russian oil

NEW DELHI: India said Thursday that its energy priority was the interest of its citizens after US President Donald Trump said New Delhi had promised it would stop buying Russian oil.

New Delhi neither confirmed nor denied that it was shifting policy toward Russia.

In a recent statement from Russian state media, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia is confident its energy partnership with India will continue.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had said India's prime minister Narendra Modi had promised him that India would stop buying oil from Moscow. 

Responding to Trump's statement, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said, “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,” he said.

“Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy,” Jaiswal added.

“This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions.”

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi criticized Modi in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the prime minister was “frightened of Trump” and listing what he described as examples of Modi yielding to US pressure, including the reported cancellation of a finance minister’s visit to Washington.

Major oil importer 

India, one of the world’s largest crude oil importers, relies on foreign suppliers for more than 85% of its oil needs. It traditionally relied on Middle Eastern nations.

But since 2022, it has shifted sharply toward discounted Russian crude, taking advantage of a buyer’s market created by Western bans on Moscow’s exports.

“Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement,” Jaiswal said.

“This has steadily progressed in the last decade. The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing.”

In August, the US raised tariffs on Indian exports to the United States to 50%, with Trump’s aides accusing India of fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously defended buying oil from Russia, a historic partner of India, despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.