India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday slammed Nato chief Mark Rutte over his recent remark claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Russian President Vladimir Putin after the US tariff imposition.
MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said that "at no point has Prime Minister Modi spoken with President Putin in the manner suggested. No such conversation has taken place,” and went on to term the Nato chief’s remarks as “speculative” and careless”.
"We expect the leadership of an important institution like Nato to exercise greater responsibility and accuracy in public statements. Speculative or careless remarks that misrepresent the Prime Minister’s engagements or suggest conversations that never occurred are unacceptable," he stressed.
Nato chief Mark Rutte had backed US President Donald Trump’s secondary tariffs on India for its purchase of Russian crude oil, saying that the measures have already had an impact on the war in Ukraine. He also claimed that PM Modi had called Putin after Trump's announcement pertaining to the high punitive tariffs and asked him about “Ukraine plan”.
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Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Rutte was asked by reporters whether Trump would actually impose sanctions, given his history of extending deadlines.
“He already did. We have seen not the big ones, the big one on India,” Rutte remarked.
“Yes, but I’m talking about on Russia. Yeah, but this, this immediately impacts Russia because that means that Delhi is now on the phone with Vladimir, Vladimir with Putin in Moscow and Narendra Modi asking, hey, I support you, but again, could you explain to me this strategy? Because I have now been hit by, by these 50% tariffs by the United States.
So President Trump is implementing what he says, but of course, we are not happy that so far we have not been able collectively to end the war. But and he is working on it,” he added.
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