India has Committed to Stop Buying Additional Russian Oil, Says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

New Delhi: US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Saturday (February 14) underlined that India has committed to stop buying Russian oil though the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has maintained that "national interests" would be the "guiding factor" for energy procurement.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Rubio said, "In our conversations with India, we've gotten their commitment to stop buying additional Russian oil." He made this comment while responding to a question on Russia-Ukraine war and the sanctions imposed on Moscow. Notably, the US has made this claim multiple times since the trade deal between the two countries has been announced.

Earlier at the conference, when asked if the trade deal with the US would affect India's energy ties with Russia, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said India remained firmly committed to strategic autonomy "because it's a part of our history and our evolution. It's something which is very deep, and something which cuts across the political spectrum as well".

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"Oil companies in India, as in Europe, as probably in other parts of the world, look at availability, look at costs, look at risks and take the decisions that they feel are in their best interest," Jaishankar said.

On Saturday (February 7), India and the US issued a joint statement saying they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement under which tariffs on New Delhi will be cut to 18%. However, the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on February 6, gives the US commerce secretary the mandate to track India’s oil imports to monitor possible Russian imports, with the threat that either “direct or indirect” imports from Russia would automatically trigger the additional 25% tariff.

Notably, foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday (February 10) also told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs  that the Union government had chosen not to react to the US executive order explicitly linking tariff concessions to India ending Russian oil purchases.

Even on Monday (February 9), during a media briefing Misri said, “At the end of the day, national interests will be the guiding factor for us in our choices,”  while avoiding clear answers on the US executive order on Russian oil.

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