He pointed out that the Indian public was taken aback by Rutte’s statement, in which he warned India of potential 100% secondary sanctions from the US should it continue trade with Russia.
"This glaring hypocrisy exposes the West's fundamental double standards. Western powers do not want to deprive themselves of the benefits of trade with Russia, yet insist others do exactly that for NATO's objective of defeating Russia-whatever the cost, especially if non-NATO countries bear the burden, whether they want to or not," Alipov wrote in an article for the Indian newspaper The Economic Times.
Indian commentators rightly pointed out that Rutte seems to have confused the historical era — and India with the Dutch East Indies, said Alipov.
"His statements reflect an outdated colonial mindset and sense of entitlement, both organic elements of NATO's "outreach" to the outside world.," the ambassador emphasised.
"It must be said loud and clear: victory over Russia cannot be achieved by default, and there can be no security in Europe at Russia's expense," he added.
Earlier, the NATO Secretary General warned that India, Brazil, and China could face “very harsh” secondary sanctions if they continued their cooperation with Russia. All three nations responded to the comments. India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal, warned against the use of double standards in light of Rutte’s remarks, which included the possibility of a 100% tariff on countries continuing to purchase Russian oil and gas.
Jaiswal also underlined that meeting the energy needs of its population remains New Delhi’s top priority.