MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Russia is confident that India will continue to cooperate with the country on supplies of energy resources, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said as he commented on US President Donald Trump’s remark that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allegedly assured him that the South Asian country would not be buying oil from Russia.
"We continue to cooperate with our friendly partners. Our energy resource is in demand, it is economically viable, reasonable, and I am confident that our partners will continue to collaborate with us, interact, and develop energy cooperation," Novak said.
"We only see signals in the media (that India will allegedly stop buying Russian oil - TASS). Our partners emphasize that no one can dictate to them, and they will choose their own path," he added.
Earlier, Indian foreign ministry spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal said as he commented on Trump's remarks that Indian authorities are focused on consumer priorities in the area of energy imports.
According to Trump, Modi assured him that India would not buy oil from Russia. He said this was impossible to do immediately, but the process had already begun and would soon be completed. The US leader's statements implied that those purchases would resume if the situation in Ukraine was resolved.
Secretary at India’s Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal told reporters on October 15 that New Delhi did not rule out the possibility of increasing its energy purchases from the United States to reduce the trade deficit that worries the American side, and to give impetus to negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement.
