'He Shouldn't Tell The World What India Will Do': Shashi Tharoor On Trump's Russian Oil Claims

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday criticised US President Donald Trump for making announcements on behalf of India.

Tharoor was reacting to Donald Trump’s claims that India will significantly reduce

Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

He said just like India does not speak for the US, Trump should not announce India’s decisions to the world. “I don’t really think it’s appropriate for Trump to be making announcements about India’s decisions. I think India will make announcements about its decisions. We don’t tell the world what Trump will do. I think Trump should not be telling the world what India will do,” he told news agency

ANI.

On Wednesday (October 22), Trump claimed that India will significantly reduce Russian oil imports by year-end citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance. He said the process of phasing out Russian oil imports will be gradual, claiming that India will bring it “down to almost nothing” by the end of the year.

“India, as you know, told me that they would stop. It is a process; you can’t just stop it. But by the end of the year, they will be down to almost nothing. That’s a big thing, that is almost 40 percent of the oil. India has been great. Spoke to Prime Minister Modi yesterday and they have been absolutely great,” Trump said during an interaction with the media at the White House, while hosting NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.

India, however, has denied his claims to such an agreement over Russian oil. New Delhi stressed that its priority is to safeguard consumer interests and the energy policy prioritises stable prices and secure supplies.