Trump, NATO tariff threat on Russia’s crude oil: India not worried about sanctions, says Hardeep Puri; ‘if something happens, we’ll…’
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is confident that if crude oil imports from Russia face sanctions or secondary tariffs by NATO and the US, India is capable of meeting its energy requirements. Since February 2022, Indian refineries have actively purchased Russian oil at reduced prices, whilst other nations avoided these supplies due to Western-imposed sanctions on Moscow following its military action in Ukraine.US President Donald Trump has recently warned about potential sanctions on countries buying Russian exports, should Moscow not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days.
Trump & NATO Warning
Trump announced on Monday a 100% tariff on Russian exports, including oil, alongside equivalent secondary charges for nations importing Russian goods, to be enforced after a 50-day ultimatum for Moscow to conclude its conflict with Ukraine.The specifics and implementation strategy of Trump’s announcement remain unclear.Also Read | India-US trade deal: Donald Trump says ‘another deal coming up, maybe with India’NATO’s new Secretary General Mark Rutte issued warnings on Wednesday to India, China, and Brazil regarding potential secondary sanctions due to their ongoing commercial relations with Russia.During his meeting with US Congress senators, Rutte called upon the three countries to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and convince him to seriously consider the peace agreement with Ukraine.“My encouragement to these three countries, particularly, is: if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this because this might hit you very hard,” Rutte told reporters.“So please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise, this will slam back on Brazil, on India, and on China in a massive way,” Rutte added.
Why India Is Not Worried
Puri indicated that India is prepared to manage any disruption in Russian imports by accessing supplies from emerging producers like Guyana and established ones such as Brazil and Canada. Also, India continues to expand its exploration and production initiatives.“I’m not worried at all. If something happens, we’ll deal with it,” Puri said at an industry event in New Delhi according to a Reuters report.Also Read | India-US trade deal: India wants Donald Trump administration to offer tariff rate lower than Indonesia; eyes competitive advantage“India has diversified the sources of supply and we have gone, I think, from about 27 countries that we used to buy from to about 40 countries now,” he added.Indian Oil Corp has a contingency plan in place. Chairman A.S. Sahney informed reporters at the event that if Russian supplies face disruption, the company would “go back to the same template (of supplies) as was used pre-Ukraine crisis when Russian supplies to India were below 2%.”
India’s Love For Russian Oil
Russia maintained its position as India’s main oil supplier, contributing approximately 35% of the nation’s total imports, with Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates following in sequence.During the first six months of this year, India’s petroleum imports from Russia showed a slight increase, with private sector refineries Reliance Industries Ltd and Nayara Energy accounting for approximately 50% of the total Russian purchases.According to a TOI report, the potential US penalty tariffs on nations purchasing Russian oil could impact India’s preference for these discounted barrels, as the advantages of lower prices might not compensate for the impact on its exports to America, particularly during ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.
