US President Donald Trump has once again taken a tough stance on India and said that if India continues to import crude oil from Russia, it will have to pay heavy import tariffs. Trump gave this statement while talking to journalists in his plane Air Force One. He said, ‘I spoke to Prime Minister Modi. He said that India will not buy Russian oil. If they do not do so, they will have to pay heavy tariffs.

The Trump administration believes that the countries buying oil from Russia are indirectly providing financial support to the Ukraine war, that is why America is continuously putting pressure on the countries buying energy from Russia. In the past months, America had requested many countries including India to reduce or stop Russian oil imports.

India has rejected Trump’s claim

Trump has already claimed that PM Modi has assured him that India will no longer buy oil from Russia. However, Trump’s claim has been rejected by the Indian Foreign Ministry. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said that the aim of India’s energy policy is to protect the interests of its consumers. He said that India is a responsible energy importer. We take our decisions independently so that prices remain stable and supply remains diverse. India reiterated that its priority is to maintain economic balance and meet domestic needs and not to come under any political pressure.

Trump’s tariffs affected India

The Trump administration had increased the import duty on many Indian products earlier this year. This includes clothes, medicines and agricultural products. Indian industry organizations say that this policy has had a negative impact on exports. If a new tariff is imposed on the issue of Russian oil, India-US trade relations may sour.

Controversy over Modi-Trump conversation

Trump claimed in his statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him not to buy Russian oil. Although the Indian government has clarified that there is no official record of any such conversation, when journalists raised questions on this, Trump said that if they did not agree, they would have to pay heavy tariffs.

India’s energy strategy

India is the third largest oil importer in the world. New Delhi says its goal is to maintain affordable, sustainable and diverse energy supply. India currently buys oil from Saudi Arabia, America, Russia and United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, a senior official of the Energy Ministry said that oil from Russia is proving to be the cheapest deal economically, hence India considers it a part of its energy security strategy.

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US President Donald Trump had made a big claim that now India will not buy oil from Russia and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured him about this, but the Ministry of External Affairs has exposed Trump’s claims. The Foreign Ministry said that there is no information about whether PM Modi talked to Trump.

After Trump’s claims, India said on Thursday (October 16) that it is broadening and diversifying its sources of energy supply according to market conditions. Responding to a question related to Trump’s claim, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that he was not aware of any such conversation over the phone. He said, “India’s oil procurement policy has been made keeping in mind the interests of Indian consumers in the unstable energy scenario.”

Did PM Modi talk to Trump on phone?

External Affairs Ministry’s Jaiswal said, “As per my knowledge, there was no phone conversation between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump yesterday (Wednesday, October 15). The last phone conversation between PM Modi and Trump was on October 9.

Trickster Trump’s claims exposed again

US President Trump has made many big claims about India so far. He had also taken credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, but India had denied it. Now Trump has made a claim about Russian oil. Trump is very close to Pakistan these days and because of this he has spoiled relations with India.

What answer did the Foreign Ministry give regarding Russian oil?

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jaiswal did not directly respond to Trump’s claims. He said, ,Ensuring stable energy prices and secure supply have been the two main priorities of our energy policy. “This includes broadening our sources of energy supply and adapting them to market conditions.”

Input – PTI

There is a situation of tension between America and India. President Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariff on India due to buying oil from Russia. Now Russia has come with India on this matter. He has said that it is wrong to put Trump’s India tariff. Roman Babushkin, Deputy Chief of the Russian Mission, said on Wednesday (August 20) that he was confident that India-Russia will continue to cooperate with energy cooperation despite external pressure.

Roman Babushkin said during the New Delhi press conference that this is a challenging situation for India and Russia trusts its relations with him. He said, “”No matter what happens, even during the challenges we are standing together to overcome any problem. President Putin recently made a phone call to give information about the Ukraine’s developments to Prime Minister Modi. This means that India matters a lot to Russia.

What Russia said about Indian products

It has also been said by Russia that if Indian products are banned in a country, then Russia welcomes it in its market. Along with this, India will also get oil. Actually, Trump had imposed a 25 percent tariff on India, but after that the tariff increased to 50 percent. Trump has trouble buying oil from Russia in India. India, while defending the purchase of Russian crude oil, had said that its energy purchase is going on keeping in mind the interest and market of the country.

What did Trump accuse India and Russia

After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, western countries stopped the supply of crude oil by banning Russia, after which India started purchasing Russian oil at low prices. Trump had alleged that India was promoting the war by purchasing oil and directly blamed Russia for this.

Input – PTI