‘Perplexed’ by US stance: Jaishankar counters Trump’s criticism on Russian oil, says India’s US oil imports on rise
Moscow: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday dismissed the notion that India is the largest importer of Russian oil, stressing that China and the European Union surpass India in buying Russian oil and LNG.
His remarks came in Moscow during a bilateral meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, amid mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut India’s Russian oil purchases.
Jaishankar said, “We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG, that is the European Union. We are not the country which has the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South.”
The minister expressed surprise at the US position, pointing out that India had increased its oil imports from America itself.
“We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia. Incidentally, we also buy oil from the US, and that amount has increased. So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you had referred to,” he said.
Trump recently imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods over continued Russian oil imports, a move New Delhi has repeatedly defended as market-driven.
Despite US pressure, Jaishankar and Lavrov reaffirmed the strength of India-Russia ties. Jaishankar underlined, “The two nations have been the steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War.”
Jaishankar also raised concerns about Indians serving in the Russian army. “I took up the issue of Indians serving in the Russian Army. While many have been released, there are still some pending cases, with some missing persons. We hope that the Russian side will expeditiously resolve this,” he said.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to expand bilateral trade, with an emphasis on correcting imbalances.
Jaishankar said, “We reaffirmed our shared ambition to expand bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner, including by increasing India's exports to Russia. This requires swiftly addressing non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments, enhancing India's exports to Russia in sectors like agriculture, pharma, and textiles will certainly help correct the imbalance.”
Touching on global developments, Jaishankar said India continues to stress diplomacy and dialogue in conflict situations.
“On regional issues, we discussed developments in Ukraine, West Asia, the Middle East and Afghanistan. India's approach continues to emphasise dialogue and diplomacy as essential to resolving differences,” he added.
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