India has started cutting back on buying oil from Russia and is increasing its energy purchases from the United States and other countries, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday. According to Greer, this shift is becoming an important part of the growing trade relationship between India and the US.
The statement comes hours after India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that India will continue to buy oil from multiple countries to ensure stable, affordable, and secure energy supplies, guided strictly by national interest. He stressed that high import dependence makes price control and reliability crucial for protecting Indian consumers.
India reduces Russian oil, buys more from the US
Earlier, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both leaders agreed on a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement. They also confirmed their commitment to broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) talks.
As part of the deal, Trump agreed to remove the 25% tariff on imports from India. Greer explained this was “in recognition of India’s commitment to stop purchasing” Russian oil. Speaking to Fox Business, Greer was asked if India would truly reduce Russian oil imports. He said, “The short answer is yes. They’ve already started winding down their purchases of Russian energy products. They’ve started ramping back up purchases of American energy and energy from other sources.”
Greer added that the US has also discussed oil purchases from Venezuela with India. He explained that India’s previous reliance on Russian oil was largely a result of the Russia-Ukraine war and discounted prices, saying, “Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Indians did not really procure Russian oil… It’s really an artefact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the discounted oil they could get.”
Greer noted that India had been refining Russian oil and selling it to European countries. He added, “I mean, Europe and India essentially were underwriting Russia’s war in Ukraine.” He stressed that India is serious about changing its energy sourcing, “They’ve already started expanding some of their commitments with respect to purchases.”
India sticks to diversified energy plan amid US pressure on Russian Oil
India will continue to buy energy based on what is affordable, reliable, and secure, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Monday, even as the United States presses New Delhi to cut down imports of Russian crude. Misri said India’s energy policy is built around diversification — buying oil from many countries instead of depending on just one. His comments came after US President Donald Trump claimed last week that India had “committed to stop directly or indirectly” importing Russian oil as part of a trade deal.
Responding to questions on this claim, Misri made it clear that India’s position has not changed. “Our approach is to maintain multiple sources of supply and diversify them as appropriate to ensure stability. Therefore, the more diversified we are, the more secure we are,” he said.
Misri stressed that decisions on oil imports are guided by national interest, both for the government and for businesses. “We are a developing economy. We have to be conscious about our resource availability,” he said.
He pointed out that India depends on imports for 80–85% of its crude oil needs, which makes energy prices a serious concern. “Naturally, when you are dependent to the extent of 80–85% on an imported resource, you have to have concerns about the possibility of inflation driven by energy costs,” Misri said.
India-US trade deal- Other changes
Greer also highlighted that India has reduced some digital services taxes and is lowering tariffs on several products. “This is going to be a really important deal, and it’s going to reverberate for many years to come,” he said. The agreement means India will remove or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods, as well as many US food and agricultural products. These include dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine, spirits, and more.
When asked about companies moving manufacturing out of China, Greer said India could be a good alternative. “They have a lot of folks there. They have manufacturing capacity. Of course, we want to make sure that American manufacturing is first and foremost. The American worker is first, but certainly to the extent we’re going to import from other countries, India can be a good source as long as it’s balanced and it’s fair.”