US President Donald Trump once again stated that he was speaking to PM Modi about the Indian imports of Russian oil, he told reporters on Tuesday (US local time) following the Diwali celebrations at the Oval Office.
The President of the US also stated that the two nations are collaborating on some of the best deals and he stressed on the fact that relations between him and PM Modi are very good.
Trump stated, ‘I love Indians. We are dealing with some good business between our nations. I had a talk with Prime Minister Modi today and our relationship is just very well. He will not purchase a lot of oil with Russia. The desire of him is to see that war come to an end as mine is. He would like the war between Russia and Ukraine to cease. They will not be purchasing excessively large amounts of oil. So they’ve slashed it down to the bare bone and they are slashing it down to the bare bone…’
PM Narendra Modi accepted the invitation between him and the US President, but no mention was made about the Oil purchases.
‘President Trump, thank you very much for your phone call and greetings of Diwali. May our two great democracies keep enlightening the world with hope on this festival of lights, and fight terrorism in its different ways’, PM Modi said.
The US President had already announced on October 18, upon speaking at a bilateral lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that India had greatly cut off its oil purchases with Russia and was now withdrawing all of them, saying that New Delhi would no longer be acquiring oil with Russia.
‘India will not be purchasing Russian oil anymore, and Hungary is kind of stuck as they have a pipeline that they have had over years and they are inland, they do not have sea and I talked to their leader, but India will no longer be purchasing Russian oil’, Trump said.
The statements made by Trump were in response to the current geopolitical push on nations to cut their energy relations with Russia during the aftermath of the conflict in Ukraine that the West says is supporting the military campaign by Moscow in the area.
India reacted to remarks of Trump about PM Modi assuring him to stop his Russian oil purchases by saying that the country is driven by its domestic interests and the necessity to safeguard the Indian consumers.
President Trump had argued that PM Modi had promised him that India would no longer buy Russian oil and that it was a major step in trying to pressure Moscow on the global stage.
Trump replied to the question of ANI about whether he saw India as a trustworthy partner, by saying, ‘Yeah, sure. I am friends with him, PM Narendra Modi. We have a great relationship… I did not like the fact that India was purchasing oil. And he assured me this morning they will not be purchasing oil out of Russia. That’s a big stop. We now must get China to do the same thing…’
India has been a longstanding ally of its oil imports with Moscow as a way of sustaining its economy yet Washington has remained to insist that it would need to diversify its energy sources.
(With Inputs From ANI)
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