External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday defended India’s purchase of oil from Russia in strong words amid the ongoing tariff war with the Trump administration in the US.
Speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum 2025, Jaishankar described US President Donald Trump’s handling of foreign affairs as unprecedented.
“President Trump’s way of dealing with the world, even dealing with his own country, is a very major departure from the traditional orthodox manner of doing so…,” said Jaishankar.
When asked about the allegations levelled against India about not just buying Russian oil but also profiting from it, Jaishankar took a sarcastic jab and also clarified in unequivocal terms that New Delhi doesn’t force any country to buy it.
The minister said, “It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business… If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don’t buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. But Europe buys, America buys, so you don’t like it, don’t buy it.”
In an update on the India-US trade negotiations, which are perceived to have taken a hit, Jaishankar said neither side has called off the talks, but New Delhi has drawn red lines.
He said, “Negotiations (India-US trade negotiations) are still going on. But the bottom line is we have some red lines. Negotiations are still going on in the sense that nobody said the negotiations are off. People do talk to each other. It’s not like there’s a ‘kutti’ there…
“Where we are concerned, the red lines are primarily the interests of our farmers and, to some extent, of our small producers… We, as a government, are committed to defending the interests of our farmers and our small producers. We are very determined on that. That’s not something that we can compromise on…”
The Trump administration, which was earlier viewed as India-friendly, has slapped a 25 percent tariff on the South Asian country for its high tariffs on American exports, and another 25 percent for purchasing oil from Russia, which is fighting a war against Ukraine.
The White House, which has singled out India over its Russian oil purchases, said the second 25 percent tariff will be effective from 27 August 2025.
Earlier this week, Jaishankar expressed surprise at the US position, pointing out that India had increased its oil imports from America itself.
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 said.
