New Delhi, Oct 16 (UNI) India today denied information about any conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in which the Prime Minister had ‘’assured’’ the US President that India would stop buying Russian oil.
‘’I am not aware of any conversation yesterday between the two leaders,’’ External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said when asked whether there was a conversation or a telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump.
Trump said yesterday that Prime Minister Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil. He told reporters that he had received assurances from Modi that India would halt its purchases “within a short period of time.”
However, India again made it clear that New Delhi’s priority is to safeguard the interests of Indian consumer.
The External Affairs Ministry said it has been India’s consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. ‘’Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective…,’’ Jaiswal said.
He said India is a significant importer of oil and gas and ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of India’s energy policy. ‘’This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions.’’
Where the US is concerned, India has for many years sought to expand its energy procurement and this has steadily progressed in the last decade.
‘’The current Administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,’’ the spokesman added.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia is confident India will continue to cooperate with the country on energy resources. He stressed that Russia’s energy resource is in demand as it is economically viable and reasonable.
“We continue to cooperate with our friendly partners. Our energy resource is in demand, it is economically viable, reasonable, and I am confident that our partners will continue to collaborate with us, interact, and develop energy cooperation,” Novak said in an interview with TASS.
He said they only saw signals in the media (that India will allegedly stop buying Russian oil. ‘’Our partners emphasize that no one can dictate to them, and they will choose their own path,” he added.
Trump said Prime Minister Modi had assured him India would not buy oil from Russia. He said this was impossible to do immediately but the process had already begun and would soon be completed.
Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov said India’s decisions on oil imports are guided by its “national interests.’’
“This is the question for the Indian government. The Indian government is having in mind the national interest in the first place and our cooperation in energy is very much in tune with those interests.”
He said India-Russia relationship has always been ‘’equal, uninterrupted and mutually beneficial.’’ These are the reasons that make its upward trajectory irreversible, he said.
