Overview
- Speaking aboard Air Force One, President Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him India would stop buying Russian oil and warned India would keep paying “massive” tariffs if it did not.
- India’s Ministry of External Affairs said there was no such phone call with Modi and reiterated that energy purchases are guided by market conditions and protecting consumers.
- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Trump has raised the claim three times in five days and accused the government of outsourcing key decisions to Washington.
- Reporting says the U.S. has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to about 50 percent, including an extra 25 percent duty tied to purchases of Russian crude, which India has called unfair and unjustified.
- Trump’s public push comes before his planned meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest, as some commentators dismiss the oil claim’s market significance and cast it as political messaging.