(MENAFN) New Delhi has dismissed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte's assertion that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Moscow's Ukraine plan following the imposition of U.S. tariffs on India.

On Friday, at a press conference, Randhir Jaiswal, the Indian Foreign Ministry representative, stated that Rutte’s allegations were “factually incorrect and entirely baseless.”

Rutte claimed to CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour on Thursday that after U.S. President Donald Trump enforced fifty percent tariffs on most Indian imports—including a twenty-five percent punitive levies on Russian oil—in August, it led Modi to call Putin.

Rutte stated that “Delhi is now on the phone with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and Narendra Modi is asking him, ‘I support you, but could you explain me your strategy.’”

Jaiswal refuted that the discussion even happened. He stated that “at no point has Prime Minister Modi spoken with President Putin in the manner suggested,” and added “we expect the leadership of an important institution like NATO to exercise greater responsibility and accuracy in public statements.”

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