New Delhi. The Indian government has reacted to the ongoing speculations about purchasing oil from Venezuela and Russia. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, the central government has publicly said on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of Indians is the biggest priority of our government.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Jaiswal said, the objective is a key part of our strategy to ensure that we diversify our energy sources keeping in mind the market conditions and the changing international environment. All decisions of India have been and will be taken keeping this in mind.
In fact, US President Donald Trump had recently announced the India-US trade deal. He had posted and written that now America will impose a tariff of 18 percent on goods coming from India. Along with this, Trump had claimed that India has agreed to stop buying oil from Russia and it will buy oil from Venezuela for its needs. Now India has reacted to the questions raised regarding these claims of Trump. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Jaiswal has commented on Venezuela. He said, as far as Venezuela is concerned, it has been our long-time partner in the energy sector, whether it is trade or investment related.
We were importing energy and crude oil from Venezuela till 2019-20. After this we had to stop oil imports. Then, India started buying oil from Venezuela in 2023-24, but we had to stop after the sanctions were reimposed… In line with its approach towards energy security, India is ready to see the commercial benefits of any crude oil supply, including from Venezuela.
Jaiswal said, Prime Minister Modi spoke to President Trump on telephone. Following that call and President Trump’s tweet, the Prime Minister thanked President Trump for the mutual tariff reduction. The Prime Minister said that now Made-in-India products will be exported to America at 18 percent lower tariff. This trade agreement will give a big boost to our exports to America. This will provide a major boost to labour-intensive industries in India, create new employment opportunities, and bring growth and prosperity for our people.