WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he has heard that India is no longer going to buy oil from Russia, which he hailed as a "good step" but added that he wasn't sure about the development.
"Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not, but that's a good step. We'll see what happens," Trump told reporters Friday.
Trump's comments come a day after the White House announced tariffs the US will impose on exports from about 70 nations.
According to the executive order, India will face tariffs of 25 percent, but it did not mention the "penalty" that Trump had said India will have to pay because of its purchases of Russian military equipment and energy.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked at the weekly media briefing on Friday about the reports claiming that Indian oil companies have stopped buying oil from Russia in the past week.
Jaiswal responded that as far as sourcing India's energy requirements is concerned, "we take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time. As for the specifics of your particular question, I am not aware of it. I don't have details of these specifics."
Declaring that the US has a massive trade deficit with India, Trump had said that while "India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any country."
"Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine... All things not good!" Trump said.
He said that India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25 percent, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August 1.
Trump had also mounted a sharp attack on India and Russia for their close ties and said that the two countries can take their "dead economies down together."
"I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let's keep it that way...," Trump had said in a post on Truth Social.