India casts doubt after Trump claims its Russia oil buy to end

India ‘broad-basing and diversifying’ its sourcing of energy, says MEA

- BS REPORTERS

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said it was unaware of any new conversation between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hours after Trump claimed he spoke with the Indian leader, who pledged to halt Russian oil purchases.

It noted that the last phone call between the two took place on October 9.

“To the best of our knowledge, lam not aware of any conversation between PM Modi and President Trump yesterday,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the MEA, told reporters at a briefing in New Delhi. The ministry emphasised that India is “broad-basing and diversifying” its sourcing of energy to meet market conditions. It noted that New Delhi's discussions with the Trump administration to deepen energy cooperation are “ongoing,” and that India is also sourcing oil from Brazil, whose Vice President Geraldo Alckmin is visiting India.

The MEA’s statement followed comments made by Trump at a White House event on Wednesday. “Modi is a great man. He assured me today they will not be buying oil from Russia. Maybe that’s a breaking story. It has started. You can’t do it immediately, there is a little bit of process but the process is going to be over soon,” claimed the US president.