New Delhi: India has firmly responded to recent remarks by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, cautioning against any "double standards" on the issue of sanctions against countries trading with Russia. The reaction comes amid growing Western pressure on nations like India, China, and Brazil to limit economic ties with Moscow.
"We have seen reports on the subject and are closely following the developments. Let me reiterate that securing the energy needs of our people is understandably an overriding priority for us. In this endeavour, we are guided by what is available in the markets and also by prevailing global circumstances. We would particularly caution against any double standards on the matter," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during the weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.
His statement follows Rutte’s comments during a recent visit to Washington, where he warned that countries continuing trade with Russia, especially in oil and gas, could face harsh secondary sanctions. “If you are the President of China or the Prime Minister of India, or the President of Brazil, and you are still trading with Russia and getting their oil and gas, then you know: if the man in Moscow doesn't take the peace negotiations seriously, I will impose 100 per cent secondary sanctions,” Rutte said.
Meanwhile, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri asserted that India is well-prepared for any potential impact of new sanctions, having diversified its oil import sources significantly. Speaking at the Urja Varta 2025 conference on Thursday, Puri said India now sources crude oil from 40 countries, up from just 27 in 2007.
“There is a lot of oil available in the market. Iran and Venezuela are currently under sanctions. But are they going to be under sanctions forever? Many countries, including Brazil, Canada and others, are ramping up output. I am not unduly worried about supplies as of now. We have diversified our sources,” he said.
The minister’s remarks come amid growing geopolitical tension, especially following a fresh warning by US President Donald Trump. On July 15, Trump announced plans to impose strict trade restrictions on Russia unless a peace agreement with Ukraine is achieved within 50 days. He also threatened to impose secondary sanctions on countries such as India and China that continue to purchase Russian oil, and raised the possibility of hiking tariffs on Russian exports to 100 per cent.
Responding to these threats, Puri remarked, “I have heard these threats. Some statements are made to ensure two disputants settle an issue.”
Puri also defended India’s energy policy, highlighting the stabilising role India’s purchases of Russian oil have played in the global market. He noted that crude oil prices might have spiked to $130 per barrel without the India-Russia oil trade following the onset of the Ukraine war in 2022.
Prior to the conflict, India sourced only 0.2 per cent of its crude oil from Russia, a figure that has since risen to nearly 40 per cent. The minister emphasised that Russian crude has always been subject to a price cap of $60 per barrel but has never been under formal sanctions, and reiterated India’s policy of avoiding oil purchases from countries under sanction.
“Russia is one of the largest crude producers with over nine million barrels per day. Imagine the chaos if this oil, amounting to about 10 per cent of the global oil supply of around 97 million, vanished from the market. It would have forced the world to reduce its consumption, and since the consumers would be chasing reduced supplies, the prices would’ve spiralled to over $120–130,” Puri had stated earlier this month.
With IANS inputs