India has rejected the comments made by Mark Rutte, the Secretary-General (SG) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), regarding a purported telephone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin.
During an interview with CNN on the margins of the high-level segment of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Thursday, Rutte claimed that Modi had sought an explanation from Putin regarding Moscow's "strategy" on Ukraine conflict in the wake of the Trump administration imposing an additional 25% penalty tariff (on top of 25%) on India for buying Russian oil last month.
"This (tariff) immediately impacts Russia because that means Delhi is now on the phone with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and Narendra Modi is asking him, 'I support you, but could you explain me your strategy because I have now been hit by these 50% tariffs by the United States'," Rutte was quoted as saying.
At a weekly briefing in New Delhi on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described Rutte's comments as "factually incorrect and baseless".
"No such conversation has taken place," Jaiswal clarified.
Further, the Indian Spokesperson said that New Delhi expected NATO's leadership to "exercise greater responsibility and accuracy in public statements".
"Speculative or careless remarks that misrepresent the Prime Minister’s engagements or suggest conversations that never occurred are unacceptable," stated Jaiswal.
Reiterating India's stance on crude purchases (from Russia), the senior Indian diplomat said these were aimed at ensuring "predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer".
"India will continue taking all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," Jaiswal said.