US pressure on India for Russian oil purchase ‘unjustified', energy cooperation to continue: Moscow

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8 hours ago

Russia's diplomatic mission in India on Wednesday said that the United States pressuring New Delhi against purchasing and reselling oil from Moscow was unjustified, The Indian Express reported.
Roman Babushkin, the chargé d'affaires at the Russian embassy in Delhi, said that Moscow was confident that the energy cooperation with India would continue 'notwithstanding the external pressure'.
The comments came amid diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Washington after the Donald Trump administration on August 6 doubled the tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% for purchasing Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine.
Trump has repeatedly alleged that India's purchases of Russian oil were 'fuelling the war machine'.
The doubling of the levies came a week after Trump announced a 25% levy on Indian goods as part of the so-called reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries that have not finalised separate trade agreements with the US.
Babushkin said on Wednesday that if Indian goods 'cannot go to the US market, they can head to Russia'.
'If the West criticises you, it means you are doing everything right...' ANI quoted Babushkin as saying.
The Russian diplomat said that Moscow does not expect New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil.
Russia has a 'very, very special mechanism ' to continue oil supplies to India, Reuters quoted him as saying, adding that New Delhi's fuel imports from Moscow will remain at the same level.
'We know about the challenging circumstances for India,' he was quoted as saying. 'This is the true strategic partnership we are enjoying. Whatever happens, even during challenges, we are committed to removing any problems...'
Babushkin added that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi by the end of the year.
On Monday, White House trade adviser and economist Peter Navarro, in a column for The Financial Times, alleged that India's increase in Russian oil imports was driven by 'profiteering by India's Big Oil lobby' and not 'domestic oil consumption needs'.
On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the claim that some of India's richest families were profiteering from New Delhi buying and reselling cheap Russian oil.
In an interview with CNBC, Bessent also claimed that India's imports of Russian oil had jumped from less than 1% before the Ukraine war, which began in February 2022, to 42%. The transactions have resulted in Indian businesses earning an estimated $16 billion in excess profits, he claimed.
Bessent defended Washington's decision not to impose a penalty on China, claiming that Beijing's purchases from Russia had risen modestly from 13% to 16% since the war started, as opposed to India.
Stating that it was a 'completely different thing', the US treasury secretary noted that China had been consistently buying oil from Russia before the war as well, whereas India had set up what he described as an 'arbitrage' system during the conflict.
In response to Trump's doubling of tariffs, New Delhi had said that it was 'extremely unfortunate' that the US had chosen to impose additional levies on India 'for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest'.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that India 'will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests'.