US offers decreased dependence on Russian oil after India strikes new deal

The White House has clarified it is not in India’s best interests to increase importing Russian energy and offered to work with the nation to reduce dependence on Moscow imports. 

Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, said “we also made clear that we’d be happy to be a partner in reducing their reliance or even their small percentage of – of reliance on that”. 

Her comments come as a response to questions about Daleep Singh’s visit to India. The top Indian-American US advisor, who played a critical role in designing sanctions against Russia had cautioned countries of trying to circumvent American actions over the Ukraine invasion. 

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Singh’s visit came amid a growing disquiet as India remained among nations who’ve abstained from voting against Russia at the United Nations. New Delhi also decided to import Russian energy at discounted prices, to combat the rising rates. After a visit from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow and New Delhi also began working on a rupee-ruble payment system to import oil. 

Many in the US have called for sanctions on India for its choice, but Psaki clarified, “energy payments are not sanctioned; that’s a decision made by each individual country. And we’ve been very clear that each country is going to make their own choices, even as we have made the decision and other countries have made the decision to ban energy imports”. 

While India has long maintained close ties with Russia, and before that, the erstwhile Soviet Union, Washington has been trying to cultivate the nation’s reliance on its commodities. Previously, India used to look to Russia for its defence equipment needs, but now, the US is a major supplier too. 

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US lawmakers, when commenting on India’s stance in the entire matter, have deemed it ‘unsatisfactory’ but ‘unsurprising’. Meanwhile, Raghuram Rajan, former RBI head criticized unilateral sanctions against Moscow, in a paper, saying, “Like military WMDs (weapons of mass destruction), they inflict pain indiscriminately, striking both the culpable and the innocent. And if they are used too widely, they could reverse the process of globalization that has allowed the modern world to prosper”.