Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has said that the Indian industry has been "hurt" by the western sanctions on Russian diamond imports.
“Their intention is to hurt Russia. But it doesn’t work that way. The producer usually finds a way. More than Russia, such steps tend to hurt those lower in the supply chain. Our efforts are aimed at softening, delaying or stopping that from happening. It’s a priority issue for us now,” Jaishankar told an industry event in the diamond trading hub of Surat on Monday evening.
Around 90 percent of the world's rough diamonds are polished and exported from Surat, which in turn has relied on raw material from Russia. Traditionally, the US has been the biggest market for Indian polished diamond exports.
The 12th round of G7 sanctions against Russia, which kicked in January, call for an “import ban” on non-industrial diamonds mined, processed or produced in Russia. Last month, the G7 implemented its ban on Russian diamond imports from third nations.
Last year, an Executive Order (EO) by the US banning the import of Russian-origin diamonds directly affected the industry in Surat.
Jaishankar noted that the western sanctions targeted the import of diamonds which weigh over one carat.
He stressed that Prime Minister Modi has personally raised the issue with other leaders, including with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo during their telephone call on 26 March.
The top Indian diplomat reckoned that the only way to stop the G7 sanctions from being implemented was to achieve a "ceasefire" in Ukraine.
He, however, added that prospects for a ceasefire looked grim in the near future, as he cited his recent meeting with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba in New Delhi last week.
“There will be a problem if the (Ukraine) conflict continues. That’s why we are in talks with several countries bilaterally and multilaterally on this issue. A few days ago, the Prime Minister spoke to the Belgian Prime Minister on the issue. Our trade minister Piyush Goyal is going to follow up on the matter as well,” Jaishankar highlighted.