‘Energy security of 1.4 billion supreme priority,’ India on Trump’s Russian Oil claim

New Delhi: India has reiterated that safeguarding the energy needs of its 1.4 billion citizens remains its foremost priority, following US President Donald Trump’s claim that New Delhi had agreed to halt purchases of Russian oil.

On Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters that India’s energy policy is guided by market realities and global dynamics. “Ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people is the supreme priority of the government,” he said. “Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy. All of India’s decisions are taken, and will continue to be taken, with this in mind.”

Trump had earlier suggested that India would stop importing Russian crude and instead invest in Venezuelan oil, following the announcement of the India–US trade deal. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi later confirmed the deal, he made no reference to ending Russian oil purchases.

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Jaiswal clarified that India remains open to sourcing Venezuelan oil but stopped short of confirming any shift away from Russian supplies. Meanwhile, Moscow responded to the trade deal announcement by noting that it had yet to receive any communication from New Delhi on the matter. Further, the Kremlin said India remains free to source crude oil from any country and that New Delhi’s decision to diversify suppliers is neither new or unusual.