The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, reaffirmed this Monday the desire of the Chavista Executive to strengthen bilateral relations with India, regarding the 77th anniversary of Republic Day, which commemorates the promulgation of the Indian Constitution.
“Venezuela reaffirms its willingness to strengthen bilateral relations and joint work between our countries within the framework of south-south cooperation and multilateralism,” said Rodríguez, who was sworn in as acting president on January 5 after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the United States.
The Chavista leader congratulated, through a message on social networks, India on the commemoration of Republic Day and extended greetings to President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on “this significant date for the republican life” of the Asian country.
Republic Day marks the date on which India laid the foundations as an independent and republican nation by enforcing its first Constitutionafter the end of the British colony.
According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, flows of Venezuelan crude oil to India were practically paralyzed before Washington’s military intervention, suffocated by the reimposition of US sanctions in April 2024.
In fiscal year 2024-25, crude oil imports plummeted to $255.3 million, representing a drop of 81.3% from $1.4 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Donald’s government Trump has indicated that he will control Venezuela’s oil trade “indefinitely” after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, which could open an escape valve for India’s energy security, when it comes to replacing its imports of Russian crude oil with Venezuelan crude.
This shift would allow New Delhi to avoid the tariff war threatened by Donald Trump’s administration, which has imposed 50% rates on Indian goods if the country continued to buy crude oil from Moscow.
