Piyush Goyal Rejects ‘Ceded Sovereignty’ Narrative in India-US Deal, Calls It ‘Nonsensical’

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal strongly rejected the narrative that India has “ceded sovereignty” under the India-US interim trade pact. In an interview with ANI, Goyal described such allegations as “absolute nonsense” and called the deal a “labour of love” aligned with India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 goals.

On India buying crude oil and other energy from the US under the newly announced interim deal, Goyal said it is in India’s own strategic interest, as the country seeks to diversify its oil sources. He added that such decisions were taken after numerous consultations with industry and market players. The minister also said that the trade deal does not restrict any company on what it buys or from where, but instead focuses on ensuring a smooth pathway for trade and preferential access, reports said.

“FTAs are all about preferential access vis-à-vis your competition. So today, when we got an 18% reciprocal tariff, we have a preference over other developing nations who are usually our competition,” Goyal said. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced the India-US trade deal on Truth Social, followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcoming the conclusion of the talks. According to Trump’s claims, India has agreed to halt Russian oil purchases and would source its crude imports from the US and potentially Venezuela; however, New Delhi is yet to clarify further details on those claims.

As per media reports, Indian refiners are increasingly limiting their dependence on Russian crude imports and shifting their import orders to West Asia and the Americas. According to Kpler data, India’s Russian crude imports fell to a three-year low in December. A Reuters report showed that Indian refiners are avoiding Russian oil orders for delivery in April and are expected to continue the trend in order to help seal the India-US trade deal. The first tranche of the trade deal was concluded following the announcement. The formalisation of the India-US deal is expected to take place by mid-March, Goyal said at a press conference last week.

“Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy,” Reuters reported, citing a spokesperson from the Ministry of External Affairs.

In a separate report on Monday, Reuters said, citing sources, that Indian state-run refiners Indian Oil Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp have together bought 2 million barrels of Merey crude from Venezuela for delivery in the second half of April. Last week, Reliance bought 2 million barrels of Venezuelan oil for April delivery, reports said.