Trump claims Modi assured him India will stop buying Russian oil
calls it 'big step' toward ending Ukraine war
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Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has claimed that his "friend" Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia, a move he described as a “big step” toward increasing pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters at his Oval Office on Wednesday, he said the US was “not happy” that India was buying Russian crude, arguing such purchases helped finance President Vladimir Putin’s war.
“He (Modi) is a friend of mine, we have a great relationship... we were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that let Russia continue on with this ridiculous war where they've lost a million and a half people,” Trump said in response to a question.
“I was not happy that India was buying oil, and (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big step. Now we’ve got to get China to do the same thing,” he said.
India is the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels behind China, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Describing the Indian prime minister as “a great man,” Trump said, “He loves Trump... I don’t want you to take the word love any differently... I don’t want to destroy his political career.”
Praising Modi's leadership, Trump said, “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 added that the phase-out would take time but that it was already underway.
“He (Modi) has assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia. I don’t know, maybe that’s a breaking story. Can I say that?... He’s not buying his oil from Russia. It (has) started. He can't do it immediately; it’s a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon,” Trump claimed.
He said India could resume energy trade with Moscow after the Russia-Ukraine war is over.
“If India doesn’t buy oil, it makes it much easier, and they’re not going to buy, they assured me they will, within a short period of time, they will not be buying oil from Russia... And they’ll go back to Russia after the war is over,” he said.
Traditionally reliant on Middle Eastern oil, India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, significantly increased its imports from Russia following the February 2022 Ukraine invasion.
Western sanctions and reduced European demand made Russian oil available at steep discounts. As a result, India's Russian crude imports surged from under 1 per cent to nearly 40 per cent of its total crude oil imports in a short span.
New Delhi has been maintaining that its oil imports are driven by national energy security and affordability concerns and that its position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict remains “independent and balanced”.
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‘Self-styled Vishwaguru stands exposed’: Cong's dig at PM over Pak role in US-Iran ceasefire
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a “severe setback” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “highly personalised diplomacy” and “the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed”.
The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi's “cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.
“The conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India’s global stature and standing,” Ramesh claimed.
PM Modi had said nothing about Israel’s "genocide" in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.
“The role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi’s highly personalised diplomacy,” he said.
The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded – unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.
That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi’s strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.
“He (Modi) or his team has also never explained why Op Sindoor was suddenly and abruptly halted on May 10th 2025 - the first announcement of which came from the US Secretary of State and for which the US President has claimed credit almost a hundred times since then,” the Congress leader said.
“There is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled,” Ramesh said.
“His cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House,” the Congress leader added.
US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy the Iranian civilisation.
Trump made the dramatic announcement on Truth Social on Tuesday evening (US time) even as Democrats called for his removal over unhinged threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation.
"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," the US President said in a social media post.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and attacks took place in Israel, Iran and across the Gulf region early Wednesday.
Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran but the deal doesn't cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday.
