India has issued a measured reply to US’ criticism of its continued Russian oil purchases. “In securing our energy needs, we are guided by what is on offer in the market and the prevailing global circumstance,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Friday evening.
The US has ramped up pressure on India to stop buying Russian oil, arguing it amounts to funding Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the purchases “a point of irritation” in comments this morning, as Delhi and Washington toil to secure a trade deal and scale down Donald Trump’s 25 per cent ‘reciprocal tariff‘.
Rubio acknowledged India’s vast energy needs – analysts expect crude oil demand from the world’s fourth largest economy to cross 6.6 million barrels per day by 2030 – and that it was buying oil and gas from Russia because the sanction-hit country is offering steep discounts.
Trump ‘Very Frustrated’
“But that, unfortunately, is helping to sustain the Russian war effort. So, it is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship with India,” he told American broadcaster Fox News.
Trump, he said, expressed “very clear frustration… with so many vendors available India continues to buy so much from Russia, which in essence is helping to fund the war effort…”
Rubio’s comments follow Trump’s scathing remarks about Delhi still buying crude and gas from Moscow. The US President pointed out Russian oil accounted for 35 per cent of India’s supply in the first half of the year, and demanded it, instead, buy from his country.
India imports most of its crude oil from Russia, Saudia Arabia, and Iraq (File).
On Thursday Trump decreed a 25 per cent ‘reciprocal tariff’ on Indian goods imported into the US and levied an unspecified penalty for buying Russian oil and weapons.
“… they (India) have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy… at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine. India will, therefore, be paying a tariff of 25 per cent, plus a penalty…”
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The new tariff – to which India will not retaliate, at this time – came into effect this morning.
India’s Russian Oil Position
India has always said Russia is a ‘close, all-weather friend”, and that it will not be bullied, by any country, into re-defining decades-old foreign policies and current economic concerns.
In the past – when faced with criticism over buying Russian oil – External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, quite categorically, that India would prioritise its citizens’ needs first.
This, he said, would mean buying oil from anyone who sells at the best possible price.
“India is a big oil consumer… We are a big oil importer because we don’t have oil. Now, it is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil… There is an oil strategy to buy oil… There is a market strategy,” Mr Jaishankar said in August 2024.
READ | US Penalty On Buying Russian Oil. What Is India’s Stance
Prior to the war in Ukraine, India rarely bought Russian crude due to high freight costs.
By 2023, though, Moscow was selling 1.66 million barrels per day, up from less than 700,000 in 2022. India eventually became the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude since the West’s sanctions.
In an effort to placate Trump, India committed, in February, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump in Washington, to buy more oil and gas from the US..
PM Modi and Donald Trump met in Washington on February 14 (File).
However, the sheer volume of India’s energy demands means the US cannot be the sole, or even a major, supplier. As of today, India’s largest are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.
Meanwhile, hours after slapping a 25 per cent tariff on his “friend”, Trump said the US had struck a deal with Pakistan, including plans to develop its “massive” oil reserves.
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Developing Pak’s oil reserves will boost that country’s supply and maybe save it some money, and help an American company turn a big profit. But it isn’t only about that. Washington will hope that an oil deal with Pak will put pressure on India to stop buying Russian oil and buy American instead.
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