Indian companies will continue to buy oil from wherever they get the best deal, said India’s ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar in an interview with Russia’s state-run TASS news agency. He called the United States’ decision to impose additional 25 per cent tariffs on India as penalty for buying oil from Russia “unfair, unreasonable and unjustified”.
Kumar said that India’s objective is to ensure energy security for the country’s 1.4 billion people. He added that after the steep 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the US President Donald Trump, the Indian government will continue to take measures to protect its “national interest”.
What Vinay Kumar said
"First of all, we have clearly stated that our objective is energy security of 1.4 billion people of India and India's cooperation with Russia as of several other countries has helped to bring about stability in the oil market, global oil market. So the US decision is unfair, unreasonable and unjustified. Now government will continue taking measures which will protect the national interest of the country,” TASS quoted Kumar as saying.
Kumar also highlighted that trade takes place on a commercial basis. “So if the basis of commercial transaction trade imports are right, Indian companies will continue buying from wherever they get the best deal. So that's what the current situation is,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar also highlighted that trade takes place on a commercial basis. “So if the basis of commercial transaction trade imports are right, Indian companies will continue buying from wherever they get the best deal. So that's what the current situation is,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar’s remarks come as India faces whopping 50 per cent tariffs announced by Donald Trump, out of which, 25 per cent was announced as a punishment for doing business with Russia.
The United States has also claimed India’s purchase of oil from Russia is being used to fund the latter’s invasion of Ukraine. However, India has strongly rejected such claims.
India has also called out other nations, including the United States itself, for doing business with Russia, which Kumar also reiterated in his interview,
He said that the trade between New Delhi and Moscow is a bilateral relationship which serves the mutual interests of both the countries and is done on the basis of market factors with the overall objective of “energy security of 1.4 billion people of India.”
“There are other countries including the US itself and in Europe trading with Russia," the Indian envoy said.
(With PTI inputs)