Aug 1 – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that Delhi’s relationship with Moscow stays a “point of irritation” in India-US ties.
Rubio’s assertion comes a day after US President Donald Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on Indian items “plus an unspecified penalty”, for purchasing Russian oil and weapons.
In an interview to Fox News Radio on Thursday, Rubio known as India an “ally” and “strategic partner” however added that Delhi’s buy of Russian oil was hampering its relationship with Washington.
Russian oil made up 35% to 40% of India’s oil imports in 2024 – up from 3% in 2021.
Delhi has defended its purchases of Russian oil, arguing that as a serious power importer, it should purchase the most cost effective accessible crude to guard hundreds of thousands of poor Indians from rising prices.
India ramped up its buy of cheaper Russian crude after the Ukraine conflict started, triggered by sanctions from the West.
Rubio acknowledged India’s causes for purchasing Russian oil, noting that the nation had enormous power wants and that it was shopping for from Moscow due to its discounted costs. But he added that this was fuelling the Russian conflict effort in Ukraine.
“I think what you’re seeing the President express is the very clear frustration that with so many other oil vendors available, India continues to buy so much from Russia,” he added, alluding to Trump’s menace of imposing penalties on Indian corporations shopping for Russian oil and weapons.
Reuters information company reported that India’s state-owned refineries like Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd (MRPL) and Indian Oil Corp (IOCL) had stopped importing Russian crude because the previous week resulting from lowered reductions.
The BBC has reached out to the businesses for remark.
HSBC Global Investment Research additionally stated there was a “significant decline” already in India’s oil purchases from Russia in July.
India’s petroleum ministry has denied asking state-run refiners to cease shopping for Russian crude.
But final month, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated India may meet its oil wants from different sources if US sanctions disrupted Russian provides.
He stated India had widened its pool of oil suppliers from 27 to about 40 nations.
Any diversification in India’s oil imports away from Russia is anticipated to have a minimal influence on India’s present account deficit – the hole between the worth of a rustic’s exports and imports and worldwide transfers of capital – in response to CareEdge, a rankings company.
“The price differential between Russian Ural and Brent Crude has significantly narrowed to around $3 per barrel from an average of $20 per barrel in 2023,” CareEdge stated in a notice.
Meanwhile Trump’s feedback about India’s commerce ties with Russia have evoked a pointy response in Moscow.
On Wednesday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he didn’t care how the 2 nations dealt with their relationship.
“They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” he wrote.
On Friday, the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev responded to Trump’s “dead economies” remark with what appeared like a warning.
He urged Trump to think about the zombie TV drama The Walking Dead, referencing the Soviet Union’s system for a last-resort nuclear strike.
“As for the talk about the ‘dead economies’ of India and Russia, and ‘entering dangerous territory’ – maybe he should recall his favourite movies about ‘the walking dead,’ and also remember how dangerous the so-called ‘Dead Hand,’ which doesn’t even exist, could be,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram.
The ‘Dead Hand’ was a Cold War-era Soviet system allegedly constructed to launch nuclear weapons routinely if it detected an assault – with out human orders.
By BBC
