New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav Friday backtracked from his remarks about the Indian government agreeing to stop buying Russian oil and agreeing to 50 percent tariffs imposed by the US, admitting that his arguments had been “factually incorrect”.
“What I said was wrong. India didn’t agree to stopping import of oil from Russia anytime. Also it vigorously protested 50 percent tariff imposition. I was trying to make a limited counterpoint to d other panelist. But factually incorrect (sic),” Madhav in a post on X.
The BJP leader courted controversy after making the comments during a panel discussion ‘New paths forward for the US-India relationship’, in Washington conducted by Hudson University. Also part of the panel were ex-diplomat Elizabeth Threlkeld & US Deputy Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell.
“India agreed to stop buying oil from Iran. We agreed to stop buying oil from Russia despite so much criticism from our opposition. India agreed to a 50 percent tariff without saying too much,” he had earlier said, suggesting that New Delhi had aligned itself closely with the US, even though the efforts weren’t recognised.
What I said was wrong. India didn’t agree to stopping import of oil from Russia anytime. Also it vigorously protested 50 percent tariff imposition. I was trying to make a limited counterpoint to d other panelist. But factually incorrect. My apologies. https://t.co/D3VNkYJ7pU
— Ram Madhav (@rammadhav_) April 24, 2026
The Donald Trump administration had repeatedly hit out at the Modi government for buying crude from Russia, saying that it was fuelling war in Ukraine. Washington DC first imposed a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods on 1 August last year, later doubling it to 50 percent effective 27 August.
Subsequently, India had decided to reduce energy imports from Russia. In March, the US had granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the conflict in West Asia.
The Congress has picked up the issue, using it to launch an attack on the ruling BJP. In a post on X, it wrote that Ram Madhav had told the “story of Modi and his government’s surrender”.
“This makes it clear that Modi does exactly what Trump wants – Modi is Trump’s ‘puppet’,” the opposition party mocked, saying this is the reason that US President Donald Trump can call India a ‘hellhole’ with no response from the Indian Prime Minister.
The issue of India’s relationship with the US, and particularly of PM Narendra Modi & US President Trump, has regularly been a point of attack by the Congress, who’ve time and again alleged that the prime minister is “compromised”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)