India committed to stopping Russia oil buys: US fact sheet

The White House released a fact sheet late on Monday asserting India has committed to stop purchasing Russian oil, reduce tariffs on “certain pulses”, and ending digital services taxes — claims the Indian government has not officially confirmed and that do not appear in the bilateral joint statement released by both countries last week.

- Shashank Mattoo and Rezaul H Laskar

The fact sheet and an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Friday both state India “has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil” in exchange for removing a 25% tariff penalty. However, the February 7 India-US joint statement makes no mention of Russian oil purchases or any Indian pledge to halt them. The fact sheet said the two sides reached a framework for an interim deal after Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on a call.

India has not confirmed it will eliminate Russian energy purchases. Foreign secretary Vikram