Energy security for India’s 1.4 billion people comes first: MEA responds to US claims on 'Russian oil'

"Insofar as India's energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of the government," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced at a media briefing on Thursday.

These comments by the MEA spokesperson came after the US claimed that India agreed to stop buying "cheap" Russian oil. Jaiswal's later media outing more or less confirmed the Narendra Modi-led government's push for India and the Indian people being the priority, which goes diametrically opposite to Trump's "America First" policy stance.

Ensuring energy security for the 1.4 billion people was the major yardstick with which New Delhi was looking in its policy when sourcing petroleum products globally.

This also meant, as per Jaiswal, that India would be diversifying its energy sourcing "in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics."

"All of India's actions are taken and will be taken with this in mind," added the MEA spokesperson.

[This is a developing story and is being updated]