No phone call between PM Modi and Trump: India on US President's claim on oil

India on Thursday rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him New Delhi would stop buying oil from Russia, saying there was no such phone call and that India’s energy policy was driven solely by national interests.

“I am not aware of any phone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump yesterday,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, dismissing Trump’s remark.

The clarification came hours after Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, told reporters: “He is (Narendra Modi) a friend of mine. We have a great relationship. I was not happy that India was buying oil from Russia and he assured me today they will not be buying oil. That’s a big stop.”

The claim triggered diplomatic and political ripples in both capitals, already tense after Washington’s recent move to double tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent and impose an additional 25 per cent levy on imports linked to India’s purchase of Russian crude. New Delhi had called the US action “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

Rejecting any suggestion that India was reconsidering its Russian oil imports under US pressure, the MEA reiterated that the country’s energy policy was guided by the need to protect Indian consumers from global price shocks.

“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. Ensuring stable prices and secure supplies are the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions,” Jaiswal said.

According to government sources, India was not cutting off crude oil purchases from Russia. They said discussions with Washington on energy cooperation were “stand-alone and unrelated” to India’s procurement from Moscow.

“Any immediate cut-off of Russian crude from the market will spike global prices,” an official said, pointing out that India and China remained the two largest importers of Russian oil.

While denying Trump’s claim, Jaiswal confirmed that New Delhi was in talks with the Trump administration to deepen bilateral energy cooperation. “Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed over the last decade,” he said, adding that the current administration had shown interest in strengthening energy ties with India. “Discussions are ongoing,” he said.

The comment came days after US Ambassador-designate Sergio Gor met Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi. Following the meeting, Gor said the US “values its relationship with India,” even as trade and tariff disputes continued to dominate the bilateral narrative.

Meanwhile, reacting to the controversy, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov said Russian crude remained “the most cost-effective option on the global market” and that Moscow’s energy partnership with New Delhi was fully aligned with India’s national interests.

“Russia has consistently honoured its commitments while showing flexibility in developing alternative logistics and payment systems in the face of attempts to disrupt this cooperation,” Alipov said, noting that Russian crude now accounted for about one-third of India’s total hydrocarbon imports.

Describing the India-Russia strategic partnership as a “stabilising force in global affairs,” Alipov added, “Our cooperation in the energy sector is very much in tune with India’s interests. This kind of relationship is in increasing demand worldwide as we navigate an era of unprecedented geopolitical turbulence.”