India reiterated on Thursday that the priority of its energy policy is to “defend the interests of the Indian consumer”, after Donald Trump’s statements stating that New Delhi had promised to stop its imports of Russian oil. “Our priority is to protect the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy market,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
At the end of August, the US president imposed a 50% surcharge on all Indian exports, in retaliation for Indian purchases of Russian oil, the product of which, in his opinion, fuels the war launched by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. After China, India is the largest buyer of Russian black gold, which accounted for almost 36% of its imports in 2024, up from around 2% before the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce.
An increase in Indian imports of US energy
On Wednesday afternoon, the White House host claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him to stop these imports. “He was not happy that India was buying oil, and today he assured me that they would not buy oil from Russia,” he said in response to a question from the press. In its statement, the ministry neither denied nor confirmed Donald Trump’s statements.
“The current (US) authorities have expressed interest in increasing energy cooperation with India. Discussions continue,” the ministry added in its statement.
Source: BFM TV
