New Delhi, February 7 India on Saturday neither confirmed nor denied whether it had decided to stop purchasing Russian crude oil after the US rolled back a punitive 25 per cent tariff it had imposed on Indian goods over New Delhi's purchases of petroleum products from Russia.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order removing the 25 per cent additional tariff.
The move came days after the US president announced a trade deal with India and said that Washington would slash tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.
"Specifically, India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing oil from the Russian Federation, has represented that it will purchase energy products from the United States, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation over the next 10 years," Trump said in the executive order.
If the US Secretary of Commerce finds that India has resumed directly or indirectly importing Russian oil, Trump's team shall recommend "whether and to what extent I should take additional action as to India, including whether I should reimpose the additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 per cent on imports of articles of India," the order said.
However, there was no clear response by Indian officials to Trump's comments that India is stopping the purchase of Russian crude oil.
When asked about Trump's assertion, an official referred to the remarks made by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday.
"Insofar as India's energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of the government," Jaiswal had said.
"Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India's actions are taken and will be taken with this in mind," he said.
India's purchase of Russian oil had become a thorny issue in ties between New Delhi and Washington with many American officials alleging that it is fueling Moscow's war machine against Ukraine.
New Delhi rejected the charges maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interests and market dynamics.
India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.
India's procurement of Russian crude oil has seen a sharp fall in the last few weeks.