Overview
- India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it had no knowledge of a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump and offered no confirmation that India will halt Russian oil purchases.
- During remarks at the White House, Trump said India gets a new leader every year, a statement widely noted as confusing India with Pakistan as clips of the exchange spread online.
- Trump has repeatedly asserted he brokered May’s India–Pakistan ceasefire, a claim Indian spokespersons dispute, crediting military-level exchanges instead.
- Indian public sector oil firms reduced Russian crude imports by up to 45% between June and September 2025, while Reuters relayed U.S. claims of a roughly 50% drop, highlighting discrepancies in reported figures.
- U.S. officials, including ambassador-designate Sergio Gor and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, have linked trade talks and a 25% penal tariff to India curbing Russian oil imports.