New Delhi: The US government has cleared that they have no problem with India – on the purchase of Oil from Russia but wants India to reduce defense purchases from the Moscow government. The US government is consistently trying to get support from India on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
President Joe Biden’s spokesperson Jen Psaki has clarified that India’s imports of Russian energy represent only 1 to 2 percent of their total energy imports and Energy payments did not come under American sanctions.
Psaki also clarified that “just given some of the reporting, energy payments are not sanctioned; that’s a decision made by each individual country”.
On the other side, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said the US is working with India to make New Delhi understand that its dependence on Russian military equipment is not in the best interest of India.
Lloyd Austin on Tuesday said that ” The US expects India to scale down its dependence on Russian military equipment, going forward. We continue to work with India to ensure that they understand that it’s not in their best interest to continue to invest in Russian equipment,”
India, however, remained very well focused and diplomatic on the Russia-Ukraine issue.
The other countries in the European Union that import Russian energy has also been free of criticism or demands to immediately cease imports. Given India’s pivotal role in the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and its attempts to curtail China’s influence, Washington has generally been supportive of New Delhi despite its neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its purchases from Moscow.
“We also we’ve been very clear that each country is going to make their own choices, even as we have made the decision and other countries have decided to ban energy imports,” Psaki added.
US’s concern over India’s dependence on Russian military equipment comes and New Delhi has made it clear that it will continue to buy cheap Russian oil.
The Indian military uses several Russian-made weapons, including tanks, artillery guns, and missile systems. New Delhi has also signed deals to purchase Russia’s S-400 air defense system, which has been under threat of US sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
(_Vinayak)