White House on India: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reaffirmed the Biden administration’s warning days after US Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics Daleep Singh traveled to New Delhi to warn India that purchasing Russian oil at cheap prices could result in US penalties.
Ms. Psaki stated that “every country should adhere to the sanctions that we [the US] have announced and that we are imposing around the world” in both private and public messages. Her remark came in answer to a question about whether the administration was exerting pressure on India and China to prevent them from growing their energy imports from Russia.
“I’d like to point out that… energy payments are not authorized.” “That is a decision taken by each individual country, and we’ve been very clear that each country will make their own choices even as we and other countries have decided to limit energy imports,” Ms. Psaki said before repeating Mr. Singh’s statement. During this tour, Daleep made it clear to his counterparts that we do not believe it is in New Delhi’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities,” Ms. Psaki said.
Ms. Psaki stressed that New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil accounted for barely 1-2 percent of the country’s overall energy imports and that Mr. Singh had explained US sanctions and offered US support to help New Delhi cease its “small percentage of reliance” on Russian oil while in New Delhi.
India is purchasing Russian oil at discounted price
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in New Delhi that India and Russia were looking into ways to “bypass” US and EU sanctions. India’s purchases of Russian oil have reportedly grown in recent weeks, according to sources. Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warned business leaders that India’s security concerns were paramount and that if petroleum became available, India would purchase it.
According to news sources, Moscow was offering New Delhi discounts of up to $35 per barrel, and the two governments were considering using a rupee-rouble trade mechanism to fund imports.