India gave a stern reply on Thursday to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's recent statements cautioning countries against doing trade with Russia, calling for avoiding the imposition of "double standards" on the subject.
While speaking to the media in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India's stance on energy security. "We have read reports on the subject and are keeping a close watch on the developments."
Let me make it clear again that ensuring the energy requirements of our citizens is naturally a top-most priority for us. In doing this, we are driven by what is available in the marketplace and also by current global conditions. We would especially warn against any double standards on the issue," Jaiswal said in the weekly media briefing.
Rutte, who spoke when he visited Washington recently, had threatened that nations like India, China, and Brazil risk serious economic consequences if they continue to have trade ties with Russia.
"If you are the President of China, or the Prime Minister of India, or the President of Brazil, and you are still doing business with Russia and receiving their gas and oil, then you know: if the gentleman in Moscow is not serious about the peace talks, I will apply 100 per cent secondary sanctions," Rutte announced.
On the same day, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri again reiterated India's policy of diversifying oil imports for guaranteeing stability in its energy supplies. Addressing the Urja Varta 2025 conference, Puri stated that India imports oil from 40 nations now, up considerably from 27 in 2007, and stated that the world energy market is well supplied.
"Plenty of oil is in the market. Iran and Venezuela are under sanction now. But are they going to remain under sanction forever? Several other countries, including Brazil, Canada and other countries, are increasing production. I am not excessively concerned about supplies at present. We have diversified our sources," he stated.
Puri's statement comes in the backdrop of threats made by former American President Donald Trump, who has recently stated that nations that are still importing Russian oil will face secondary sanctions. Trump had previously said that if Russia does not accept peace terms with Ukraine within 50 days, the US will impose tariffs on Russian exports to 100 per cent and penalize buyers such as India and China through retaliatory trade measures.
In retaliation, Puri stated, "I have heard these threats. Some things are said to make two antagonists settle an issue."
He also emphasized that Indian imports of oil from Russia have helped hold global crude prices steady. Global oil prices could have gone sky-high if India had not been trading energy with Moscow when the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, Puri said. Russian oil constituted only 0.2 per cent of India's overall crude imports at the time—something that has now reached a level of almost 40 per cent.
The minister further clarified that while Russian crude has always been offered at a price cap of $60 per barrel, it has not been under international sanctions. He reiterated India's policy of shunning crude imports from any sanction-hit country.
Russia is among the biggest crude producers at more than nine million barrels/day. If this oil, which is roughly 10 per cent of total global oil supply of nearly 97 million, had disappeared from the market, it would have compelled the world to lower its intake, and as the customers would be racing to grab dwindling supplies, prices would have spiralled to more than $120-130," Puri had stated in the early part of this month.
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