The Indian minister feels responsible only to his consumers, so the proposal of the G7 countries will be carefully weighed and take into account economic feasibility.
Recently, the finance ministers of the countries of seven” still agreed to introduce price restrictions on Russian oil and called on India and China to join the initiative. However, it is not yet known whether these countries will support the proposal. During Gastech 2022 in Milan, Indian Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri shed light on the government's position on the issue, reports CNBC.
“There is a lot of talk because of a lot of factors ” – said the minister.
In his opinion, the world economy is still adjusting to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, when considering the proposal to limit the prices of Russian oil, India will weigh all the pros and cons: which countries will support the initiative and what the consequences of this step may be for the energy markets.
Read also: The EU must act unanimously to introduce price restrictions on Russian oil – Minister of Finance of France
Hardeep Singh Puri also rejected the accusations against his country, due to the increase in the volume of purchases of energy resources from Russia already after February 24. Whereas as of March of this year, the share of Russian imports was only 0.2%.
“I said that Europeans buy more in one day than I do in a quarter. I would be surprised if it were otherwise. But yes, we will buy in Russia, we will buy anywhere,” said the Minister.
Read also: Bloomberg reported how much China and India paid Russia for energy resources during the war
According to Puri, India consumes about 5 million barrels of oil every day, and the main suppliers of raw materials to the country are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
At the end of the conversation with journalists, the Minister of Oil and Gas of India on to the question of whether he has a moral conflict due to the purchase of Russian energy resources, he answered negatively.
Read also: India is being tested by the Russian-Ukrainian war
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“No, there is no conflict. I have a moral obligation to my consumer. As a democratically elected government, do I want a situation where the gas pump is running dry? Look at what is happening in the countries around India,” said Puri.
