US President Donald Trump has claimed that India will be purchasing oil from Venezuela instead of Iran.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying to Palm Beach in Florida on Saturday, Trump made the remarks while responding to a question on whether China would recover money it had lent to Venezuela in exchange for oil supplies.
“China is welcome to come in and would make a great deal on oil. We welcome China. We've already made a deal. India is coming in, and they're going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. So we've already made that deal, the concept of the deal," he said.
There was no immediate reaction from New Delhi on Trump's comments. India had been a major buyer of Iranian oil until 2019, when imports were significantly reduced following the reimposition of US sanctions on Tehran.
Trump's comments come against the backdrop of US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela and its pressure on major energy-importing countries to avoid buying crude from nations under restrictions.
In recent years, India significantly increased its purchases of discounted Russian crude, making Russia one of its largest oil suppliers. The US has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including 25 per cent for its purchases of Russian oil.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a telephone conversation with Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, during which both leaders agreed to further deepen and expand bilateral ties.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership in all areas, including trade and investment, energy, digital technology, health, agriculture and people-to-people ties.
"Both leaders exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest and underscored the importance of their close cooperation for the Global South," the MEA had said.