New Delhi/Washington: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday responded to US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him India would stop purchasing oil from Russia.

In response to media queries on India’s energy sourcing, Official Spokesperson Shri 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.

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."

Trump, speaking to reporters at his Oval Office on Wednesday, said his “friend” Prime Minister Modi had assured him that India would stop buying oil from Russia — a move he described as a “big step” to increase pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

“He (Modi) is a friend of mine, we have a great relationship... we were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that let Russia continue on with this ridiculous war where they've lost a million and a half people,” Trump said.

“I was not happy that India was buying oil, and (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That's a big step. Now we've got to get China to do the same thing,” he added.

Trump noted that India, the world’s second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels behind China according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), may not be able to stop purchases immediately.

“He (Modi) has assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia. I don't know, maybe that's a breaking story. Can I say that?... He's not buying his oil from Russia. It (has) started. He can't do it immediately; it's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon,” Trump claimed.