United States President Donald Trump on Monday issued a fresh warning to New Delhi over its energy imports. Doubling down on his earlier claim, the Republic leader asserted that India has agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil. While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump threatened to impose ‘massive tariffs’ on Indian goods if New Delhi failed to agree to his terms.
“I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” the US President said, reaffirming his statements from the past week when he claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed to him that India would stop buying oil from Russia. On being asked about India’s assertion, he replied, “But if they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.”
Donald Trump’s remarks come amid mounting US pressure on Russia’s trade partners. According to Washington, the energy trades fund Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. The US President has already imposed a sweeping 50 percent tariff, including a 25 percent penalty for transactions with Russia, on a large basket of Indian exports.
“PM Modi just said that two days ago, as you know. I was not happy that India was buying oil. And he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big step,” Trump claimed last Wednesday while responding to ANI’s question on whether he considered India a reliable partner.
Following his statement, the Minister of External Affairs cleared the air, stating that no conversation took place on October 15 between United States President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “On the question of whether there was a conversation or a telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump, I am not aware of any conversation yesterday between the two leaders.”
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