A senior Indian official has said that Donald Trump’s statement regarding India ending its purchase of Russian oil is inaccurate.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters during a press briefing that he was not aware of any phone conversation between the US president and prime minister Narendra Modi.
While he confirmed that discussions on the energy sector had taken place, he did not confirm Trump’s claim that India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil.
“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,” Jaiswal said.
These comments contradict those made by the US president, who asserted that India would no longer source oil from Russia, a country that currently supplies around one-third of India’s oil.
