New Delhi: India’s energy partnership with Russia aligns with its national interests, Moscow’s envoy to New Delhi, Denis Alipov, said on Thursday — a day after former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that India would cut down oil imports from the former Soviet nation.

Beijing also reacted sharply, warning of countermeasures after Trump suggested that China, too, should reduce its oil imports from Russia.

Alipov declined to directly comment on Trump’s remarks but said Russian crude continued to be the most “cost-effective option” in the global market. He noted that India was addressing the issue of U.S. pressure “keeping in mind the national interests of India,” adding, “Our cooperation in the energy sector is very much in tune with those in

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