White House Clarifies: Following the government of India’s outrage over remarks made by US Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh during his visit to New Delhi last week regarding US sanctions on Russia and their implications for oil purchases, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki clarified Mr. Singh’s message and stated that no “warning” was delivered.
While in New Delhi, Mr. Singh warned there would be “consequences for countries that actively attempt to circumvent or backfill the sanctions.” “I wouldn’t characterize it as a warning, and neither did we at the time,” she said at a news conference on Friday in answer to a question about whether the “warning” to India about increased Russian oil imports was also sent to other nations.
“He went and had a constructive conversation and made clear that while it’s up to each individual country, including India, to decide whether they’re going to import Russian oil,” White House Press Secretary Ms. Psaki said, adding that Russia accounted for only 1-2 percent of India’s oil imports, while the United States accounted for about 10%. “And so he signaled, of course, that they should comply by fines that are unrelated to that decision, but that we would be here to assist them in diversifying and moving beyond the 1 to 2 percent reduction.”
White House said we said in India’s interest only
“What Daleep did make clear to his counterparts during this visit was that we don’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities,” Ms. Psaki said on Monday, adding, “What Daleep did make clear to his counterparts during this visit was that we don’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities.”
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said last week that India had purchased Russian oil at a discount, telling business leaders that the country’s interests came first and that if petroleum was available at a discount, India would acquire it.
When External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visit Washington next week for the April 11 “2+2” dialogue with their American counterparts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the wide-ranging implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and India and the United States’ responses to the situation, are expected to take center stage.