New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) Reiterating that ensuring energy security remains a top national priority, India on Thursday said that the government's strategy to diversify energy sources is shaped by market conditions and evolving international dynamics. “In so far as India’s energy security or energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is its supreme priority. Diversifying energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s decisions are taken and will continue to be taken with this objective in mind,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.

Replying to another question on India’s energy engagement with Venezuela, the MEA spokesperson stated that the South American nation has long been India's key partner in the crude oil and trade and investment sectors. He emphasised that New Delhi remains open to assessing the commercial viability of any crude supply options, including from Venezuela. “As far as Venezuela is concerned, it has been a long-standing partner for us in the area of energy, both on the trade side and also on the investment side. We were importing energy or crude oil from Venezuela till 2019-20, and thereafter, we had to stop. Again, we started buying oil from Venezuela in 2023-2024, but had to stop because of the reimposition of sanctions,” Jaiswal stated.

“As you are aware, Indian PSUs have established a partnership with the National Oil Company of Venezuela, PDVSA, and our PSUs have maintained a presence in the country since 2008. Consistent with our approach to energy security, India remains open to exploring the commercial merits of any crude supply options, including from Venezuela,” he added. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a telephone call from the Acting President of Venezuela, Delcy Eloína Rodriguez Gomez, with the two leaders having a detailed discussion on deepening the partnership between both countries during their conversation.

"Spoke with Acting President of Venezuela, Ms. Delcy Rodríguez. We agreed to further deepen and expand our bilateral partnership in all areas, with a shared vision of taking India-Venezuela relations to new heights in the years ahead," PM Modi posted on X after the phone call. According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership in all areas, including trade and investment, energy, digital technology, health, agriculture and people-to-people ties.