By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated that India is not purchasing “much oil from Russia,” cited a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Diwali celebrations at the White House.
“I spoke to Prime Minister Modi today and we just have a very good relationship. He’s not going to buy much oil from Russia. He wants to see that war end as much as I do, the war between Russia and Ukraine. They’ve cut it way back and are continuing to cut it way back,” Trump said.
New Delhi has not officially responded to Trump’s latest claim, Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday thanked the US President for his Diwali greetings and their “warm conversation.”
India has dismissed similar claims, emphasizing that its energy purchases are guided solely by domestic interests.
“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,” the government had said
On trade policy, Trump announced steep new tariffs on China, saying that as of November 1, Chinese imports would face duties of “about 155 percent.”
“I want to be nice to China, but China has been very rough with us for years because we had presidents who weren’t smart from a business standpoint,” Trump said. “I made deals with the EU, Japan, and South Korea, great deals that protect our national security. Thanks to tariffs, we’re getting hundreds of billions, even trillions, paid into the United States. We’ll start paying off debt,” he added.
