MEA refuses to disclaim U.S. claims on India’s Russian oil imports

The Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) has as soon as once more refused to immediately deny claims by the USA authorities on Russian oil imports on Thursday (February 12, 2026). This comes after a senior U.S. official stated that India had diminished its purchases of Russian crude, because the U.S. “needed [India] to.”

The federal government expressed satisfaction on the amendments made by the U.S. administration to its “reality sheet” on the India-U.S. commerce deal. The actual fact sheet, out there on the White Home web site, has now dropped contentious references to pulses and agriculture, saying it displays the “shared understanding” between India and the U.S. on commerce. Nevertheless, it continues to state that India has dedicated to cease shopping for Russian oil.

“The Joint Assertion is the framework and stays the idea of our mutual understanding within the matter. Either side will now work in the direction of implementing this framework and finalising the Interim Settlement,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated. “The amendments within the U.S. reality sheet mirror the shared understandings contained within the Joint Assertion.” The joint assertion doesn’t include any point out of Russian oil purchases.

Avoiding questions

Because the Opposition continued to lift questions in regards to the settlement in Parliament, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor met with Overseas Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday (February 12, 2026). “”So many alternatives forward now that the commerce deal has been finalized,” Mr. Gor wrote in a publish on social media.

Mr. Jaiswal refused to remark additional on the U.S.’s contentions about Russian oil, a thorny challenge that has additionally been mentioned in Parliament and was raised repeatedly by members of the Parliamentary Committee on Exterior Affairs who had been briefed by Mr. Misri.

At different briefings, each Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Vitality Minister Hardeep Puri have refused to reply questions on India’s response to the U.S. claims, directing them to the MEA. In a public assertion, Mr. Misri stated earlier this week that India’s vitality sourcing is guided by pricing, availability, and dangers, however didn’t reply to questions in regards to the sharp month-on-month decline in India’s imports of Russian oil.

‘India appearing as U.S. needed’

On Wednesday (February 11, 2026), at a listening to of the U.S. Home Sub-Committee on Overseas Affairs on U.S. ties with South Asia, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State S. Paul Kapur repeated statements by U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer asserting that India’s actions had been a part of the bigger commerce cope with the U.S.

“The Indians have been lowering their purchases of Russian oil and diversifying away [from it], which is what we [the U.S.] needed them [India] to do,” Mr. Kapur informed the committee. “They’ve truly been shopping for extra U.S. vitality and that’s, I feel, a promising chance is to substitute some U.S. vitality for the Russian vitality and shopping for from different elements of the world,” he added.

When requested in regards to the repeated statements, Mr. Jaiswal stated that Mr. Misri had responded to the “type of commentary and conversations” being heard, together with within the US.

“Precisely to make clear issues, our Overseas Secretary has made an in depth assertion… highlighting the varied elements of the place [India’s] strategy to vitality sourcing stays,” he stated. Nevertheless, he refused to reply a query from The Hindu on whether or not the federal government’s response to the persistent U.S. claims was a “sure or no”.

In keeping with the White Home reality sheet nonetheless out there on-line, Mr. Trump had mentioned the difficulty with Prime Minister Narendra Modi throughout their name on February 2, and had “agreed to take away the extra 25% tariff on imports from India in recognition of India’s dedication to cease buying Russian Federation oil.”