Moscow/New Delhi, Feb 12 (.) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow has received no such information, on the alleged halt of crude purchases by India, following Washington’s comments, where US President Donald Trump had said that in exchange for lowering tariffs to 18% under the trade deal announced on Feb 2, New Delhi had agreed to stop buying Russian crude.

However, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had thanked Trump for lowering the tariffs, and praised the trade deal, he made no mention of any agreement to halt New Delhi’s purchase Russian crude.

“You [a lawmaker] mentioned that Donald Trump announced India’s agreement to no longer purchase Russian oil,” Lavrov told the Russian State Duma on Wednesday.

“I have not heard such a statement from anyone else, including Prime Minister Modi and other Indian leaders.”

Earlier, on February 9, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, said that India as a developing economy has to be conscious about resource availability, and that the country’s foremost priority is to safeguard the interests of Indian consumers insofar as energy is concerned, “to ensure that they receive adequate energy at the right price and through reliable and secure supplies. And our import policy insofar as energy is concerned is therefore driven entirely by these objectives.”

Misri said that “India is not just one of the largest consumers of energy, but it also plays an important role as a stabilizing factor in global energy markets. And that’s one reason why we import energy from multiple sources. So, the key drivers of our energy policy are adequate availability, fair pricing, and reliability of supply.”

“We are neither dependent on any single source for this, nor do we intend to be. And it is natural for the mix of sources to vary from time to time, depending on objective market conditions,” he said.

Lavrov also referenced External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar’s statement in New Delhi earlier regarding energy security, where he called the topic among the top items on the roster of the next BRICS summit which is scheduled to take place in India, and expected to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier in the week, Lavrov accused Washington of resorting to coercive measures in its push for economic dominance, and weaponising tariffs as a tool for pushing countries into making deals favourable towards only Washington’s interests.

As of now, Russia continues to be the largest oil supplier to India, said Denis Alipov, Moscow’s envoy to New Delhi on Wednesday. “Despite the West’s opposition and the temporary decrease in volumes to 1.2 million barrels per day in December and January, we remain India’s largest oil supplier,” he told RIA Novosti.

India has long defended its oil trade with Russia, arguing that its decisions are solely governed by national interests and the need to ensure energy security for all its 1.4 billion people, and it won’t take any foreign dictation from anyone regarding its trade choices, slamming the West’s constant criticism of New Delhi’s purchases of Russian crude as hypocritical.

The joint statement issued by the US and India on the bilateral trade framework also made no mention of stopping Russian oil, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal making it clear that ensuring the energy security of the nation takes “supreme priority”, during his remarks on the deal.

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