US President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that he "heard" India is going to stop buying Russian oil, a major reason that drove him to levy 25 per cent on imports from India. While India is yet to react to Trump's claims, the Centre maintains that India's energy procurement is driven by national interest.
US President Trump told presspersons on Friday that he "heard" unconfirmed reports that India was going to stop procuring oil from Russia and called it a good step. "Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not, but that's a good step. We'll see what happens," Trump said.
Trump's comments come a day after he announced a steep hike in tariffs on imports from India, which would come into effect from August 7. Besides the hiked tariff rates, India would also face a penalty for procuring Russian oil and defence equipment. The announcement came amidst ongoing negotiations between India and the US to finalise a free trade agreement. Trump also called India a "dead economy".
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India's oil purchases from Russia was a point of "irritation" in India-US ties. Rubio said India was procuring large amounts of cheap oil from Russia, which in turn is helping Moscow to sustain its war against Ukraine.
However, the Centre denied reports of India halting oil procurement from Russia. During a weekly briefing on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said as far as sourcing India's energy requirements is concerned, "we take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time."
