Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says the Western countries are not "unhappy" with New Delhi purchasing oil from Russia.
In fact, crude prices would only have increased if India had been increasing oil purchases from Gulf states instead, Puri opined.
"We are exercising all our options as a large consumer. We will continue to do that in the foreseeable future and by the way, the West is not unhappy that we are buying Russian oil because if we are not buying Russian oil, we will be buying more Gulf oil and the prices would go up,” Puri stated, speaking at the Lokmat National Conclave event on Tuesday.
Puri's comments came after Western media published allegations of India joining $60 price cap on Russian oil imposed by the G7 member states and Australia.
India, meanwhile, has declined to join Western sanctions: Puri himself indicated in previous statements that India had no "moral conflict" in buying Russian oil and would continue with an independent policy to ensure its energy security.
Experts have also opined that New Delhi was unlikely to yield to US attempts to undermine its ties with Russia, mostly because cooperation with Moscow is profitable for the country.
Recently, Russia became one of India’s top five trading partners, with the trade between the countries reaching almost $40 billion for FY 2022-2023.