New Delhi: US President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil, describing it as “a big step” in efforts to increase global pressure on Moscow, months after Trump slapped punitive tariffs on India over the purchases.
Trump made the remarks during a joint news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel at the Oval Office in Washington, where the two highlighted the administration’s efforts to curb violent crime.
Asked by ANI whether he viewed India as a reliable partner, Trump said, “Modi is a great man. He loves Trump,” referring to himself in the third person. “I don’t want to destroy his political career,” he said of Modi.
“I was not happy that India was buying oil. And he (PM Modi) assured me that they will not be buying oil from Russia. He’s not buying his oil from Russia…He can’t do it immediately. It’s a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over soon.”
Trump said that after India, “we’ve got to get China to do the same thing…”
On the meeting between US ambassador-designate Sergio Gor and PM Modi, the US President said, “I think they were great…Modi is a great man. He (Sergio Gor) told me that he (PM Modi) loves Trump…I have watched India for years. It’s an incredible country and every single year you would have a new leader. Some would be in there for a few months and this was year after year after year and my friend has been there now for a long time and he’s assured me there will be no oil purchases from Russia.”
He said that all they want from Russian President Vladimir Putin “is to stop killing Ukrainians and stop killing Russians because he’s killing a lot of Russians”.
“The hatred of the two leaders (Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin) is a lot, it’s an obstacle…But I think we’ll get them. If India doesn’t buy oil, it makes it much easier…They will not be buying oil from Russia and they’ll go back to Russia after the war is over,” Trump said.
India has long defended its oil imports from Moscow as essential for economic stability, even as Washington has continued to urge New Delhi to diversify its energy sources.
Calling the ongoing conflict unnecessary, Trump said, “This is a war that should have never started, but it’s a war that Russia should have won in the first week, and they’re going into the fourth year. And I want to see it stop. So I was not happy that India was buying oil.”
On Middle East
Drawing a comparison with his recent diplomatic efforts, Trump said, “You know, that is relatively easy compared to what we just did over the last week in the Middle East. The Middle East was 3,000 years and we got it done. This is three years.”
Expressing optimism about resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he added, “And I think we’ll get it done. I think that Putin, President Putin, I think he’s going to, I think he wants to get it done. We’ll see.”
India did not immediately confirm Trump’s account. PM Modi has previously defended buying oil from Russia, a historic partner of India. Last Saturday, PM Modi met with the new US ambassador Gor, hours after he arrived in New Delhi.
Gor said after the meeting that the Trump administration valued the relationship with India and that he was “optimistic,” pointing to a telephone call between Trump and Modi. Trump, in his White House remarks saluted his relationship with Modi, India’s second-longest serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru.
