New Delhi has responded to President Donald Trump’s claim on Wednesday that his Indian counterpart pledged to begin phasing out Russian oil imports, amid the administration’s efforts to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
“India is a significant importer of oil and gas,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement Thursday. “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.”
The ambiguity of Thursday’s statement has reportedly led some Indian oil importers to consider a pause, with critics also questioning why Modi would allow Trump to make the announcement on his behalf.
India has risen to become a major importer of Russian fossil fuels, second only to China—helping Moscow offset lost exports to European markets.
The Trump administration hiked tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent in August, citing India’s purchases of Russian crude. India has pushed back, saying they are critical to energy security and protesting the tariff as hypocritical—noting China was not also targeted and that the U.S. continues to import low-enriched uranium refined by Russia.
Newsweek reached out to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the White House via emailed requests for comment.
Jaiswal said: “Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions.”
He observed that Indian imports of U.S. energy had increased over the past decade and that “discussions are ongoing” on deepening energy cooperation.
The statement neither confirmed nor denied Trump’s remarks the previous day. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “[Modi has] assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia—I don’t know, maybe that’s a breaking story, can I say that?”
Russia shrugged off Trump’s claim, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying the country would be “guided by the official statements” when it comes to Indian and Chinese oil purchases, state news agency Tass reported.
Indian oil imports from Russia would see a short-term decline, the report cited the executives as saying.
Trump told reporters: “He’s not buying his oil from Russia. It’s started—you know, you can’t do it immediately, it’s a little bit of a process—but the process is going to be over with soon. And all we want from President Putin is to stop killing Ukrainians and stop killing Russians, ’cause he’s killing a lot of Russians.”
Shama Mohamed, spokesperson for the All India Congress Committee, a national leadership team of the Congress Party, wrote on X: “Why is a major policy decision of India being announced by the US President? During Operation Sindoor too, it was Trump who announced the ceasefire, not our prime minister.”
Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at New Delhi think tank the Centre for Policy Research, wrote in an X post: “Given Trump’s well-honed talent for inventing ‘facts,’ his claim that Modi ‘assured’ him India won’t buy Russian oil is rich. He hasn’t even managed to stop Europe from swelling Russia’s coffers through its energy purchases. Yet we’re to believe he can dictate India’s oil policy?”
The announcement from the U.S. leader reportedly caught Indian oil industry executives by surprise.
Three executives of Indian state-owned refiners, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly comment on the matter, told Bloomberg they hadn’t been briefed by the government.