The Foreign Ministry has denied that the prime minister told the US president that New Delhi would stop buying oil from Russia<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Foreign Ministry on Thursday pushed back against US President Donald Trump\u2019s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured\u00a0him that New Delhi would stop buying oil from Russia. Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters he was \u201cnot aware\u201d of any conversation between the two leaders. His comments came hours after New Delhi issued a formal statement saying its primary goal regarding energy trade is to protect the interests of its consumers in the volatile energy market, and that its import policies are driven solely by this objective.
\nThe Foreign Ministry added that India has been expanding energy purchases from the US, and that discussions are ongoing to deepen cooperation.\u00a0
\nAddressing reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump claimed that Modi \u201cassured\u201d him that India would stop buying Russian oil.
\n\u201cI was not happy that India was buying oil, and he [Modi] assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That\u2019s a big step. Now we\u2019ve got to get China to do the same thing,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcf9 Modi ‘Assured Me’ India Will Stop Buying Russian Oil – Trump Makes Tall ClaimFor the record, 34% of India’s crude imports in September came from Russia. pic.twitter.com\/Ztx8C4hnNy\u2014 RT_India (@RT_India_news) October 16, 2025 <\/p>\n
Since 2022, India has substantially increased its oil imports from Russia despite mounting pressure from Washington and its allies. According to Kpler data, in September, Russia accounted for 34% of India\u2019s total oil imports. New Delhi has repeatedly defended its Russian oil purchases as essential for energy security.
\nIn late September, Russia was still India\u2019s top supplier, providing around one-third of India\u2019s crude imports (around 1.6 million barrels per day), according to ship-tracking data cited by Reuters and other outlets.
\nPrivate companies in India have been taking advantage of discounted Russian oil prices and exporting refined oil products to European markets. Last year, New Delhi emerged as the largest exporter of petroleum products to Europe. In August, the White House announced an additional 25% tariff on US imports from India tied to India\u2019s \u201cdirect or indirect\u201d purchases of Russian oil \u2013 on top of earlier tariffs \u2013 bringing the total tariff burden cited by several outlets to as high as 50% in some cases. India publicly criticized the move and said it would act to protect its national interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Foreign Ministry has denied that the prime minister told the US president that New Delhi would stop buying oil from Russia India\u2019s Foreign Ministry on Thursday pushed back against…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t