The US president has said New Delhis purchases of energy from Russia featured in his latest phone conversation with Narendra Modi

US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that India will reduce its oil imports from Russia.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the Oval Office on the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, Trump said he had held a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day, with trade being a key topic, including discussions on limiting New Delhi's oil purchases from Russia.

"I just spoke to your prime minister today," Trump stated. "We had a great conversation. We talked about trade. We talked about a lot of things, but mostly the world of trade."

Adding that Modi is "very interested in trade," Trump said, "He's not going to buy much oil from Russia."

Since 2022, New Delhi has significantly ramped up oil imports from Russia. In September, 34% of India's oil imports came from the country, according to Kpler data.

In August, Trump announced a 25% tariff on India as a penalty for importing Russian oil, accusing India and China of fueling the Ukraine conflict by buying crude from Russia. The punitive levies were in addition to 25% tariffs imposed on India after New Delhi and Washington could not reach a trade deal in August.

In the call with Modi on Tuesday, Trump said both countries are working on "some great deals."

The US leader claimed last week that Modi had "assured" him that India will cease its purchases of Russian oil. A few hours after the statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said India's "consistent priority" is tosafeguardthe interests of Indian consumers "in a volatile energy scenario," adding that this objective guided the country's import policies.

In a post on X on Sunday, Modi called on Indians to buy Swadeshi (made in India) products during the festive season and asked them to share images of their purchases on social media.

Even as India is being touted as a "key growth engine" in the world economy, the 50% tariffs imposed by the Trump administrationthreatento shave 0.8% off the South Asian nation's GDP growth rate in the next financial year, according to World Bank estimates.

(RT.com)