Ram Madhav has made it clear that his previous comments in regards to the position of India on Russian oil imports, that India never agreed to stop buying crude oil in Moscow. His explanation followed remarks by him during a speech at a New India Conference organized by the Hudson Institute, in Washington DC.
Madhav, in a post on X, acknowledged that he was factually incorrect in his earlier statement. He contributed that India has never agreed to halt importing oil in Russia and also heavily objected the 50 per cent reciprocal tariff by the United States final year. He clarified that his remarks at the panel discussion were intended as a narrow-minded response to another speaker, but he admitted that what he said was not the correct view of India.
In the Washington event, Madhav had indicated that India had made a number of moves to keep relations with the US strong such as halting importation of oil to Iran and Russia, and agreeing to mutual tariff agreements. He had also raised the question on how much India has contributed in the enhancement of bilateral relations, where India was failing in keeping its end of the bargain.
Former US diplomat Kurt Campbell and Elizabeth Threlkeld, the Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center were among the panel discussion members.
In the wake of the scandal, a clarification issued by Madhav aimed to set the record straight and reiterate the independent policy choices made by India regarding energy imports, especially its current usage of Russia as a source of crude oil despite international geopolitical influence.