United States President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed his renewed bonhomie for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, joking that he didn’t want to “destroy his [PM Modi] political career” by revealing how much Modi “loves Trump.”
“You know, Modi is a great man, and he loves Trump. Now, I don't know if the word love… I don't want you to take that any differently, I don't want to destroy his [PM Modi] political career,” Trump remarked at a press conference in White House.
Trump further claimed that PM Modi has assured him that India will not purchase oil from Russia.
“He's assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia. I don't know, maybe that's a breaking story. Can I say that? Would you say there will be no oil? He's not buying his oil from Russia. It's started. You know, you can't do it immediately. It's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over soon,” he said.
The US President, who participated in the press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, also said that he has watched India for years.
“It's an incredible country, and every single year you'd have a new leader. I mean, some would be in there for a few months, and this was year after year after year. And my friend has been there now for a long time,” he added.
The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Prime Minister Modi had made such a commitment to Trump, Reuters reported.
The remarks come as Washington intensifies efforts to choke Moscow's oil revenues amid its ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump, positioning himself as a dealmaker, is seeking to leverage personal and bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation, rather than relying solely on broad-based multilateral sanctions.
In his comments, Trump also added that the US was going to get China to do the same, referring to halting oil purchases from Russia.
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