India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that the nation's main priority was to safeguard the "interests of the Indian consumer", amid intensifying US pressure to pull the plug on its crude imports from Russia.
"India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective," a statement from MEA's official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal read. "Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions."
Jaiswal's remarks came hours after US President Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him that New Delhi would stop sourcing oil from Russia.
"He's assured me there will be no oil purchases from Russia. He can't do it immediately. It's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over soon," the American leader said in response to a media query on Wednesday.
Notably, India is the largest importer of Russian seaborne crude, fulfilling approximately 35 percent of its energy requirements from the Eurasian state.
This has been a bone of contention between the current American administration and the Modi-led government, resulting in the former imposing 25 percent additional tariffs on Indian exports bound for the United States.
India, however, has continued to stand tall amid these pressure tactics, calling the US actions as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".