India bluntly rejects Trump's claim on New Delhi agreeing to stop Russian oil purchase: ‘Not aware of any conversation’

India on Thursday, October 16, strongly rejected United States President Donald Trump’s claim that New Delhi had agreed to stop purchasing oil from Russia, indicating that the claims were wrong. Responding to media queries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was “not aware of any such conversation” between the two leaders.

The sharp rebuttal came after Trump suggested that PM Narendra Modi had personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil — a claim that New Delhi dismissed outright, reaffirming its commitment to pursue energy deals based on “national interest”.

During a weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “On the question of whether there was a conversation or a telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump, I am not aware of any conversation yesterday between the two leaders.”

What did Donald Trump claim?

Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him that his country would stop buying Russian oil. The US president claimed that while India may not be able to cut the procurement immediately, the process has started.

India is the second biggest purchaser of Russian oil, after China, and Trump imposed 25% additional tariffs on New Delhi in August over its business ties with Moscow.

The change, which was not confirmed by the Indian government, would boost Trump's efforts to pressure Moscow to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

“There will be no oil. He’s not buying oil,” Trump said. The change won’t take immediately, he said, but “within a short period of time”.

But now, the foreign ministry has rejected such claims, saying there were no such conversations that took place between Donald Trump and PM Modi.

Moscow had also reacted to Trump's claims that India agreed to stop Russian oil purchases, saying it was confident business ties with New Delhi would continue.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, “We continue to cooperate with our friendly partners. Our energy resource is in demand. It is economically viable and feasible. I am confident that our partners will continue to work with us, interact, and develop energy cooperation.”

“We're only seeing signals in the press today that our partners are declaring that no one can dictate to them, and that they will choose their own path,” the deputy prime minister said.

On Trump's oil trade claims, India had earlier said that the country's energy sourcing is guided by its national interests and the need to protect Indian consumers.

Randhir Jaiswal said, “India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective. Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions.”

He continued, “Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade. The current Administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing.”