Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri issued a detailed clarification on Monday as White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro continued to take swipes at India. Much has been said in recent weeks over the continued purchase of Russian oil — with US President Donald Trump imposing a 50% tariff against New Delhi. Navarro has also taken repeated swipes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and even insisted that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine was “Modi’s war”.
India ‘prevented catastrophic $200 per barrel shock’
“Some critics allege that India has become a “laundromat” for Russian oil. Nothing could be further from the truth. India has been the fourth-largest exporter of petroleum products for decades — long before the Ukraine conflict — and its refiners process a basket of crudes from across the globe. Exports keep supply chains functioning. Indeed, Europe itself turned to Indian fuels after banning Russian crude. The volume of exports and refining margins — Gross Refining Margins or GRMs — remains broadly the same. There is no question of profiteering,” Puri wrote in a column for The Hindu on Monday.
Puri also noted that “much heat had been generated” in some quarters — without directly naming Trump or Navarro — about the Indian purchase of Russian oil. The response came even as the Trump aide accused “Brahmins” of profiteering at the expense of the Indian people and insisted that Modi was “getting into bed with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping” during a Fox News interview on Sunday..
“Let us separate fact from noise. Russian oil has never been sanctioned like Iranian or Venezuelan crude; it is under a G-7/European Union price cap system deliberately designed to keep oil flowing while capping revenues…India has not broken rules. India stabilised markets and kept global prices from spiralling…There is no substitute for the world’s second-largest producer supplying nearly 10% of global oil. Those pointing fingers ignore this fact. India’s adherence to all international norms prevented a catastrophic $200-per-barrel shock,” Puri added.
Trump claims ‘India offered to cut tariffs to zero’
Meanwhile US President Donald Trump claimed on Monday evening that India had “offered to cut tariffs” down to zero.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest “client,” but we sell them very little – Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades. The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.