Kumar Bahukhandi
Modi, Putin and Trump-File Photo
New Delhi: India on Friday January 8, 2025 said it is closely following developments relating to a proposed legislation by the US that seeks to impose up to 500 per cent tariffs on countries procuring Russian crude oil.
India and China are among a handful of countries which are procuring significant volumes of crude oil from Russia.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, the author of the bill, said this week that President Donald Trump has green-lighted the proposed legislation.
“We are aware of the proposed bill. We are closely following the developments,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
India has been stoutly defending its procurement of Russian crude oil, saying the purchase is driven by market dynamics and to address the energy requirement of 1.4 billion people of the country.
“Our position on the larger question of energy sourcing is well known,” Jaiswal said.
“In this endeavour, we are guided by the evolving dynamics of the global market and by the imperative to secure affordable energy from diverse sources to meet the energy security needs of our 1.4 billion people,” he said.
On Wednesday, Senator Graham said he had a “very productive meeting” with Trump and that the president has green-lighted the Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months.
“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries that buy cheap Russian oil, fuelling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said on social media this week.
“This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine,” he said.
The bill has proposed a 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil.
Earlier this week, Graham said that Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra informed him about New Delhi reducing its purchases of Russian oil and asked him to convey to President Trump to “relieve the tariff” imposed on India.
The US has been putting pressure on India to cut its procurement of Russian crude oil as it believes Moscow is financing its war against Ukraine using the oil revenue.
India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Consequently, from a mere 1.7 per cent share in total oil imports in 2019-20, Russia’s share increased to 35.1 per cent in 2024-25.
(Source-PTI)
