Former Indian ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar believes that the US officials won’t put any pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over New Delhi’s surging crude imports from Russia.
"The United States, Europe and some other countries, perhaps, thought that they would be able to convince India to stop buying Russian oil. But India stands firm on its own, and has taken a very strong position on this issue," Sajjanhar, a strategic affairs expert told Sputnik.
US President Joe Biden last year described India’s response to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as “shaky” as it wasn’t in accordance with West’s wishes.
Since last year, Russia has emerged as India’s biggest source of crude, surpassing traditional suppliers in the Middle-East.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that New Delhi’s policy of buying crude from Russia ensured its energy security, while the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has termed it as an inflation management strategy geared to ensure economic growth.
Sajjanhar underlined global volatility in crude prices in the wake of western sanctions against Moscow was “quite unstable for an economy like India’s”, which meets around 85 percent of its crude oil requirements through imports.
India and many other developing countries have increasingly ignored collective West’s calls to stop buying Russian crude. Nations like India and China have significantly ramped up their Russian energy imports, with other developing states such as Pakistan also eyeing increased imports.
“So, I don’t foresee any significant pressure, maybe there will be some discussions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but I very much doubt that there will be any pressure on India. I think the United States understood that between the positions,” said Sajjanhar.
He said that there were bound to be “disagreements” between India and the US on New Delhi’s “time-tested ties” with Russia. However, a “strong India” would benefit all sides.
G-7 Sanctions Against Moscow
The G-7 countries have imposed 11 rounds of sanctions against Russian government and private entities in order to deprive Moscow of revenues in various sectors.
The G-7 nations, which were the biggest importers of Russian energy till 2021, have banned seabound energy imports and introduced a ‘price cap’ on Russian crude.
However, west’s efforts against Russia have been offset by a significance increase in Russian crude exports to India and China, both ranking as the biggest crude importers globally.
In fact, refined petroleum products processed derived from Russian crude and processed in India are also finding their way to the European market, as per media reports.
New Delhi has told Brussels that this won’t constitute circumvention of western sanctions as Russian crude is “substantially transformed” in India before its bound for Europe, which is allowed under the EU law.