(MENAFN- Live Mint) Just as Donald Trump continues to claim that India will significantly reduce buying the Russian oil by year-end and that“PM Narendra Modi” personally assured him about it, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor hit out at the United States President for making announcements on behalf of New Delhi.

Speaking to ANI, Tharoor asked President Trump not to announce India's decisions to the world, as New Delhi does not speak for Washington DC.

Shashi Tharoor said,“I don't really think it's appropriate for Trump to be making announcements about India's decisions. I think India will make announcements about its decisions. We don't tell the world what Trump will do. I think Trump should not be telling the world what India will do.”

Earlier on Wednesday, October 22, (US local time), Donald Trump claimed that India will significantly reduce Russian oil imports by year-end, citing PM Narendra Modi's“assurance”.

Trump said the phase-out of Russian oil imports would be gradual, adding that India would reduce its purchases“to almost nothing” by the end of the year.

“India, as you know, told me that they would stop. It is a process; you can't just stop it. But by the end of the year, they will be down to almost nothing. That's a big thing, that is almost 40 per cent of the oil. India has been great. Spoke to Prime Minister Modi yesterday and they have been absolutely great,” President Trump said.

Later, Donald Trump also warned that New Delhi will continue paying“massive” tariffs if they did not cut down on its purchase of Russian oil.“I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he's not going to be doing the Russian oil thing.”

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India has so far denied any conversation between PM Modi and Donald Trump regarding the purchase of Russian oil. During a weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said,“On the question of whether there was a conversation or a telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump, I am not aware of any conversation yesterday between the two leaders.”

“India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario," he added.

When asked about India's government saying it was not aware of any conversation, the US President replied:“But if they want to say that, then they'll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don't want to do that.”

This comes in the backdrop of Trump imposing 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, urging New Delhi to diversify energy sources.

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