Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the country’s parliament that Moscow has only heard about the development from Trump and no one else, including India
Russia has said that it has not heard from India or anyone else about New Delhi not buying oil from the country, except from US President Donald Trump. Potus claimed that India has agreed not to buy Russian oil, a major point of contention between the two countries in terms of the trade deal.
Trump made the claim as he announced a landmark trade deal with India after a year of negotiation. The trade deal opens a $30 trillion market for Indian exporters, especially MSMEs, farmers and fishermen, and in turn creates job opportunities for lakhs of people.
A fact sheet on the India-US trade deal also asserts that India is “committed” to stop purchasing Russian oil under the agreement.
What has Russia said?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the country’s parliament that Moscow has only heard about the development from Trump and no one else, including India.
“You mentioned that Donald Trump announced India’s agreement to no longer purchase Russian oil. I have not heard such a statement from anyone else, including Prime Minister Modi and other Indian leaders,” Lavrov said in response to a lawmaker in the State Duma.
The White House order eliminated a 25 per cent punitive tariff that had been imposed on Indian goods because of oil purchases from Russia. The overall duty on Indian exports had reached as high as 50 per cent when combined with a reciprocal tariff imposed earlier.
What has India said?
Last week, the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the government’s priority was ensuring energy security for 1.4 billion Indians and diversification of import sources remained at the core of its strategy.
When asked whether India would stop buying Russian oil, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal referred to the commitment to ensure the availability of affordable energy imports and the importance of diversification.
“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. Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s actions are taken and will be taken with this in mind,” said Jaiswal.
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