"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.
From Russia to Venezuela?
Venezuela has been a longstanding energy and trade partner, the MEA spokesperson added. "We were importing Venezuelan crude oil till 2019-20, and thereafter, we had to stop." India later resumed buying in 2023-24, but it was halted "due to the reimposition of sanctions."
Jaiswal confirmed that Indian PSUs established partnerships with the Petróleos de Venezuela, SA, the state-owned Venezuelan oil company and have maintained a presence in the country since 2008. "Consistent with our approach to energy security, India remains open to exploring the commercial merits of any crude supply options, including from Venezuela," he stressed.