Will India Stop Buying Russian Oil? MEA Says 'Our Supreme Priority Is...'

New Delhi: Amid continued confusion whether India is going to cut down its oil imports from Russia, especially since US President Donald Trump announced this in the same Truth Social post in which he mentioned the India-US trade deal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) underlined that ensuring the “energy security of 1.4 billion Indians” is the country's top priority.

“Insofar as India’s energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of the government,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing on Saturday. 

"Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s actions are taken and will be taken with this in mind," Jaiswal clarified.

The US has been persisting India to stop its oil imports from Russia, which it claims was being used to fuel Russia's war machinery. After Trump announced that India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil altogether, no official statement has come out from the Indian side on halting of Russian oil imports.

How Has Russia Responded

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that India has always focused on diversifying its oil supplies and bought oil from different countries, including Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that everyone knew that Russia was not the only supplier of oil to India.

"We, and not only us, but all specialists in the field of international energy affairs, are well aware that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India," Peskov told reporters.

"India has always purchased these products from other countries. That is why we do not see any new developments here." 

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said on Wednesday that India would diversify its energy sources amid changing global circumstances to ensure energy security.

Trump's Mega Announcement

On Monday, following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump announced that the former has agreed to stop buying oil from Russia and “buy much more” from the US, and "potentially," from Venezuela.

“He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The US had imposed a flat 25% penalty tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, in addition to the 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs already announced. The effective tariff of 50% was hurting Indian exporters and had led to souring of commercial ties between the two countries.

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