New York/Washington: India has already started scaling down its purchases of Russian energy products and is increasing imports from the United States and other suppliers, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday.

Speaking in an interview with Fox Business, Greer confirmed that New Delhi is moving away from Russian oil amid broader trade negotiations between India and the US.

“The short answer is yes. They've already started winding down their purchases of Russian energy products. They've started ramping back up purchases of American energy and energy from other sources,” Greer said when asked whether India was genuinely shifting away from Russian oil.

The remarks come days after President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks that resulted in a framework for an Interim Agreement on reciprocal trade. The two sides also reiterated their commitment to negotiations on a comprehensive US–India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Following the discussions, Trump announced the removal of a 25 per cent punitive tariff on Indian imports, citing India’s commitment to halt purchases of Russian oil.

Greer noted that India’s increased reliance on Russian crude was a consequence of the Russia–Ukraine war and the availability of discounted oil.

“Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Indians did not really procure Russian oil. It's really an artefact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the discounted oil they could get,” he said.

He also pointed out that India had been refining Russian crude and exporting petroleum products to Europe.

“I mean, Europe and India essentially were underwriting Russia's war in Ukraine,” Greer added.

According to the USTR, India has demonstrated seriousness in adjusting its energy sourcing.

“India is really committed. They've already started expanding some of their commitments with respect to purchases,” Greer said.

Beyond energy, Greer said India has taken steps to improve trade conditions by removing certain digital services taxes and reducing tariffs.

“This is going to be a really important deal, and it's going to reverberate for many years to come,” he added.

Addressing concerns within corporate America about reducing manufacturing dependence on China, Greer said India could play a role in diversifying supply chains, though American manufacturing would remain the priority.

“They have a lot of folks there. They have manufacturing capacity. Of course, we want to make sure that American manufacturing is first and foremost. The American worker is first, but certainly to the extent we're going to import from other countries, India can be a good source as long as it's balanced and it's fair,” he said.

Under the proposed agreement, India is expected to eliminate or lower tariffs on all US industrial goods and a broad range of American agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fruits, pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, among others.

PTI