US President Donald Trump had said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying oil from Russia.
The Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded in detail on Thursday. However, the issue was raised again at the Ministry of External Affairs' weekly press conference on Thursday evening.
During the press conference, Jaiswal said, "As far as I know, there was no conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump yesterday."
Earlier, Randhir Jaiswal had responded in detail to the issue related to oil purchases.
He said, "India imports large quantities of oil and gas. Protecting the interests of Indian consumers is our priority in the constantly changing energy environment."
"Maintaining stable energy prices and ensuring supply have been our two objectives."
Randhir Jaiswal says, "As far as the US is concerned, we have been trying to expand our energy purchases for many years. There has been steady progress in this over the past decade."
"The current US administration has shown interest in further expanding energy cooperation with India, and discussions are ongoing."
What did Donald Trump say?
President Donald Trump had said, "The United States is unhappy with India buying crude oil from Russia. Such purchases help finance President Vladimir Putin's war."
Trump said, "He (Modi) is my friend, we have a very good relationship. We were unhappy with him buying oil from Russia. Modi assured me today that he will not buy oil from Russia. This is a big step. Now we will have to get China to do the same."
Trump said, "India will not be able to cut purchases immediately, but the process has begun and will be completed soon." Trump described this as a major step toward increasing pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. He said the US wants India to stop purchasing Russian crude oil to put financial pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and end the war in Ukraine.
India's blunt stance on British sanctions
India on Thursday firmly rejected the United Kingdom's latest sanctions targeting Russia’s oil sector and Indian firms, reiterating that it does not recognise unilateral sanctions, warning against "double standards" in energy trade.
"We have noted the latest sanctions announced by the UK... We do not subscribe to any unilateral sanctions. The Government of India considers the provision of energy security a responsibility of paramount importance to meet the basic needs of its citizens," Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
Jaiswal highlighted that Indian companies procure energy globally, considering overall market conditions. "We would stress that there should be no double standards, especially when it comes to energy trade," he added.
Prakash Kumar Pandey