'Perplexed': What EAM Jaishankar said on Russian oil purchase amid Trump's tariffs; 'India not biggest purchaser'

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that India was not the biggest importer of Russian oil and expressed that he was "perplexed" as New Delhi's purchase of oil from the US had in fact increased. The statements came in as Donald Trump has been putting pressure on India to stop buying oil from Moscow, claiming that the move was fueling Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Speaking at bilateral meet with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, 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."

"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 added.


Trump imposed additional 25% tariffs on India over its continued purchase of Russian oil. India has repeatedly defended its move as something driven by "market conditions".

Moreover, the two leaders reaffirmed India-Russia ties amid US tariff pressure. Jaishankar noted that the two nations had been the "steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War."

Jaishankar also took up the issue of Indians serving in the Russian army and urged for speedy resolution of the pending cases.

"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 expediously resolve this," he said.


The two nations also reaffirmed the commitment to expand India's exports to Russia and address the "non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments".

"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," Jaishankar said.


On Ukraine, Jaishankar reiterated India's position of peace and said, "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."