Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: US ambassador to India Sergio Gor doubled down on US claims that India has committed to not buying Russian oil as he said Friday that President Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone to procure Russian crude as he works to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Gor also said that India was already diversifying its oil sourcing and that the US and India were in “active negotiations” to facilitate the procurement of Venezuelan oil by India. Gor also said the interim trade deal with India would be signed very soon as only a “few tweaking points” were left to do. On oil, Gor said, there was an agreement. “We have seen India diversify on their oil. There is a commitment. This is not about India. The US doesn’t want anyone buying Russian oil,” said Gor, speaking shortly after India joined the Pax Silica initiative on the margins of the AI summit. “The President’s been very clear on this, he wants this war to end. And so anyone who is in a way still involved with that conflict is something that the President wants to see come to an end in hopes of peace coming with that,” added Gor. The Indian foreign ministry later pointed to foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s statement that India’s energy policy is driven by national interest and actual sourcing is done by oil companies after an assessment of cost, market conditions, availability and risks involved. As both sides reached a framework for an interim deal earlier this month, and Trump claimed India had committed to not buying Russian oil, the US slashed tariff on India from 50 to 18%.
