Moscow will continue supplying oil to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in New Delhi by the end of year, a Russian embassy official in India said on Wednesday, a day after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent accused “some of the richest families in India” of profiteering from the trade.
Russia has a "very, very special mechanism" to continue oil supplies to India, Roman Babushkin, the charge d'affaires at the Russian embassy in India, told reporters, adding that India's crude oil imports from Russia will remain at the same level.
"..If Indian goods are facing difficulties entering the US market, the Russian market is welcoming Indian exports....," said Babushkin.
"The sanctions are hitting those who are imposing them. It is a challenging situation for India but we have trust in our ties. We are confident that India-Russia energy cooperation will continue notwithstanding the external pressure," he added.
No dates had been finalised for the Putin-Modi meeting yet, he said.
On Tuesday, asked by CNBC on the different treatment to China and India for purchasing Russian oil, Bessent had said China’s oil import from Russia has increased only 3 per cent post the Russian-Ukraine war while India's oil imports from Russia have increased over 40 per cent.
Bessent added that “less than 1 per cent” of Indian oil was coming from Russia pre-invasion “and now I believe it’s up to 42 per cent”.
He added: "India is just profiteering, they are reselling... They made 16 billion in excess profits…..some of the richest families in India. This is a completely different thing.”
The US is set to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports on August 28, citing imports of Russian oil which expanded after Western nations sanctioned Russian supply after its invasion of Ukraine.
The tariffs, most analysts fear, will crush India’s exports.
However, the US has stopped short of imposing similar tariffs on China over its purchases of Russian oil.
Last month, the European Union sanctioned Russian-backed Indian refinery Nayara Energy, leading the refiner to cut back processing and companies to curtail their trading with them.
Trade between Indian and Russia was expected to grow 10 per cent annually, Evgeniy Griva, deputy trade representative of Russia to India, said at the briefing on Wednesday.
White House counsellor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro, in an opinion piece in London’s Financial Times published over the weekend, had painted India as the villain in the Russia-Ukraine war for buying crude from Moscow.
He had also written: “What really drives this trade is profiteering by India’s Big Oil lobby.”
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