"Do We Switch Off Our Economy?" Indian Envoy's Blunt Reply On Russia Oil Question

Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami has rejected the West's criticism of India's oil imports from Russia and said a country can't "switch off its economy". Speaking to British radio station, Times Radio, last week, he said many of India's European partners are also continuing to buy rare earth and other energy products from the same countries that they're "refusing to let us buy from".

"Don't you think that that seems a little odd?" Mr Doraiswami said.

India, the world's third-largest oil importer, traditionally sourced its oil from the Middle East, but started importing a large volume of oil from Russia after it began offering steep discounts to attract alternative buyers. Moscow's move came after it faced sanctions from various Western countries over the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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Asked about India's "closeness" with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, he said New Delhi's relationship is based on a number of metrics.

"One of these is our long-standing security relationship that goes back to an era in which some of our Western partners wouldn't sell us weapons but would sell them to countries in our neighbourhood that use them only to attack us," the Indian envoy explained.

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He also said that India has an "energy relationship" with Russia, which is the result of "everybody else buying energy from sources that we used to buy from earlier". 

"So we've been displaced out of the energy market largely, and the costs have gone up. We are the third-largest consumer of energy in the world. We import over 80% of our product. What would you have us do? Switch off our economy," Mr Doraiswami said.

"We also see around us relationships that other countries maintain for their own convenience with countries that are a source of difficulty for us. Do we ask you to come up with a little test of loyalty?" he said.

Speaking on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that "this isn't an era of war".

"He's made that point repeatedly, including with the president of Russia and with the president of Ukraine (Volodymyr Zelensky)," he said.

"We are very keen for this terrible conflict to stop, as we are keen for conflicts across the world to stop," Mr Doraiswami added.