US President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India will stop buying oil from Russia.
Trump called it a “big step”.
“I didn’t like India buying oil and he assured me today that they will not buy oil from Russia. That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same,” he told reporters at the White House.
India has not yet commented on these statements by Trump.
According to media reports, in September, Donald Trump proposed that European countries impose high import duties on goods from China and India to persuade Beijing and New Delhi to reduce or eliminate their purchases of Russian energy resources.
The new US duties on Indian goods announced by President Donald Trump came into effect at the end of August. The move doubles the total US tariff on Indian goods to 50 per cent and is, according to the US leader, part of Trump’s efforts to weaken Russia’s economic base.
Before these duties came into effect, India had accused the US and the EU of double standards on trade with Russia. India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Washington and Brussels continue to trade with Russia even though it is “not a matter of vital necessity” for them.
India’s foreign ministry said on 6 August that Trump’s decision to impose additional duties on goods from India because of the country’s purchase of Russian oil was “extremely unfortunate”.
India and Russia have pledged to increase their annual turnover by 50 per cent to $100 billion over the next five years. India has increased its oil imports from Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and now accounts for about 37 per cent of Russian oil exports, according to Moscow-based Kasatkin Consulting.