India’s legitimate energy transactions should not be politicised, say govt sources on Russian imports
India Today
Countries with oil self-sufficiency or those importing themselves from Russia cannot credibly advocate restrictive trading, government sources said amid pressure from West to restrict trade with Moscow.
India’s legitimate energy transactions should not be politicised and countries with oil self-sufficiency or those importing themselves from Russia cannot credibly advocate restrictive trading, sources in the government have said.
This comes against the backdrop of western countries, led by the United States, imposing sanctions on Russia and pressuring New Delhi to restrict trade with Moscow to condemn its invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, after state-run Indian Oil Corp purchased 3 million barrels of Russian crude, the White House stated that while India would not be violating US sanctions by purchasing discounted Russian oil, such a move would be tantamount to supporting Moscow's aggression in Ukraine.
"Think about where you want to stand when history books are written at this moment in time. Support for the Russian leadership is support for an invasion that obviously is having a devastating impact," White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said.
India has not supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine. New Delhi has consistently asked all stakeholders to resolve differences through dialogue. It has, however, abstained in all United Nations resolutions against Russia.
Contrary to the United States’ stance, various countries across the world, particularly Europe, continue to procure Russian oil and gas even today. Notably, around 75 per cent of Russia’s total natural gas exports is to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes Germany, Italy, France.
European countries like Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, and Romania are also large importers of Russian crude oil.Notably, recent Western sanctions on Moscow have caveats to avoid impact on energy imports from Russia. Moreover, Russian banks that are the main channels for European Union payments for Russian energy imports have not been excluded from SWIFT international payments system.
