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Will continue to meet India’s oil needs: Russian ambassador Denis Alipov tells HT
Russia has eclipsed traditional suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, providing 7.94 million tonnes of crude in April.
Russia will continue meeting India’s energy needs as long as there is demand, and the two sides are working on arrangements to make energy supplies sustainable and to address the imbalance in trade, Russian ambassador Denis Alipov has said.
Alipov described efforts by the two sides to put in place a payments system in the face of Western sanctions as a “work in progress”, and said in an interview the success achieved on this track will show other countries how to establish “sustainable alternative cross-border financial relations”.
Responding to a question on whether Russia’s growing engagement with China can have implications for the country’s relations with India, Alipov said “instead of crying over the growing Chinese economic footprint in Russia, Indian commentators would do better to encourage greater Indian expansion in the Russian market”.
Watch: India & China Turn Saviours For Russia, Purchase 80% Of Russian Oil In May
Asked if the level of India-Russia oil trade is sustainable, Alipov replied: “As long as there is demand, there is supply. Oil supplies helped us reach the record high bilateral trade turnover at $44.4 billion in fiscal 2022-23, covering more than one-third of Indian oil imports and making Russia the largest contributor to Indian energy security. We are interested in long-term arrangements so that this trend is indeed sustainable.”
He added the oil demand for the “fastest growing Indian economy is going to increase. The basic idea, however, is quite opposite, and that is the diversification of trade instead of putting all eggs in one basket.”
India’s purchase of Russian crude increased from less than 2% of all imports in 2021-22 to almost 20% at present. Russia has eclipsed traditional suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, providing 7.94 million tonnes of crude in April, or more than seven times the 1.11 million tonnes in the same period last year. The surge in oil imports has, however, created a trade imbalance.
Read: India-Russia oil trade: Lessons from Iran
Asked about Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s comments on billions of rupees accumulating in Indian banks, Alipov said using Russia’s SBFS system and mutually recognising digital payment systems is a “work in progress”. He added, “Our financial regulators and banks maintain dialogue on that to ensure bilateral transactions are smooth and seamless. We have been quite successful on this track and this sends an encouraging message for the rest of the world, showing the way... to establish sustainable alternative cross-border financial relations.”
In the context of Moscow-Beijing relations, Alipov said there is absolutely no way Russia will become dependent on any one country as it “contradicts our national interests”. He added, “Expanding economic cooperation with China or with any other country for that matter does not have a chance to become a political tool of influence...We have excellent relations with India and China and are determined to expand mutually beneficial and honest ties with both our partners without hidden agenda as stipulated by the recently updated Russian Foreign Policy Concept.”
Russia supports normalisation of a constructive dialogue between India and China to promote stability in Eurasia. “And so I suggest that instead of crying over the growing Chinese economic footprint in Russia, Indian commentators would do better to encourage greater Indian expansion in the Russian market, as I believe India does not plan to reduce its largely imaginary dependency on Russia only to become dependent on someone else...,” he said.
Read: On EU official call against India over Russian oil, Jaishankar’s blunt response
Alipov also said Russia appreciates India’s position on a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis through dialogue and diplomacy. “Such a position reflects New Delhi’s status as a responsible global power. Russia never rejected any mediatory proposals from those who are sincerely interested in establishing peace,” he said.
India’s trade deficit with Russia between April 2022 and January 2023 reached $34.79 billion, according to figures from the department of commerce. This marked a sevenfold increase over the figure for the same period in the previous fiscal, and made the deficit with Russia second only to China ($71.58 billion).
