Suhasini Haidar
India cannot cancel oil imports from Russia as it did six years ago with Iran and Venezuela, given the difference in the scale and importance of the relationship, said experts, warning that the U.S.’s actions against India were damaging the relationship built over decades. In 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump had in his first term, demanded that India “zero out” its oil imports from Iran and Venezuela. India had eventually complied with the demand before the deadline in May 2019.
Donald Trump’s criticism of India for its oil and arms trade with Russia is factual but illogical: Data
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order levying a 25% penalty on top of 25% tariffs on Indian goods, unless India cut energy purchases from Russia, which currently make up more than 35% of its oil imports. The penalty would kick in by August 27 unless Russia stops the war in Ukraine. The threat is expected to add pressure on both India and Russia ahead of a meeting between Mr. Trump and President Vladimir Putin next week, and the upcoming visit by Mr. Putin to India for the annual summit with Mr. Modi.
“At the global level, Russia is not Iran,” former Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Arun Singh told The Hindu in an interview. “We want Russia, as one of the major powers in the international context, to be an important partner of India, and there’s a memory in India of Russia in the past having provided political support [and] ...defence technology that nobody else was willing to provide,” he added, also warning that if India were to cave in to Mr. Trump’s demands, this would only increase the U.S.’s appetite to demand more concessions from India.
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