India is welcome to export its products to Russia if it is facing trouble entering the US market, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.
The US’ pressure on India over the latter’s procurement of Russian crude oil is “unjustified” and has created a challenging situation for New Delhi, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin said, referring to Washington’s announcement of a 25 per cent duty in addition to a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods. The additional duty is scheduled to come into effect on August 27.
“..If Indian goods are facing difficulties entering the US market, the Russian market is welcoming Indian exports….,” Mr Babushkin said during a press briefing in the national capital.
“It is unjustified,” he said, when asked about US’ sanctions on India over its purchase of Russian crude oil. “”The sanctions are hitting those who are imposing them. It is a challenging situation for India but we have trust in our ties. We are confident that India-Russia energy cooperation will continue notwithstanding the external pressure,” he said.
The Russian official’s remarks came a day after US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on India to deter Russia from pursuing the Ukraine conflict. The US earlier threatened sanctions on Moscow and secondary sanctions on countries that buy its oil if no moves are made to end the war in Ukraine. China and India are the top two buyers of Russian oil.
Mr Babushkin also noted the rising tensions between US and India and said Washington would not “behave like that” if it considered New Delhi its friend. “As we all know, the sanctions are a tool of unlawful competition. It’s always about double standards. A lack of trust, blackmail and pressure, as well as disrespect of national interests. Friends don’t behave like that,” he said.
He emphasised that Russia and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries never impose sanctions and labelled non-United Nations sanctions and secondary sanctions as illegal, designed to weaponise the economy.
“You will never see sanctions imposed by Russia or within BRICS organisations where we together participate. Non-United Nations sanctions and secondary sanctions are illegal. They just weaponise the economy. Despite the tremendous sanction pressure on Russia, you will see the Russian economy is growing steadily. It means that you cannot exclude from the global economy such a big and important country like Russia with its tremendous energy, industrial and human potential, meaning that sanctions fail and moreover, they hit those who are imposing them,” he said.
On August 6, Mr Trump escalated his tariff offensive against India by slapping an additional 25 per cent duty and subsequently doubling it to 50 per cent on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continuous imports of Russian oil.
India condemned the “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” move that is likely to hit sectors such as textiles, marine and leather exports hard. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier said New Delhi would not back down in the face of economic pressure.
With this action singling out New Delhi for the Russian oil imports, India will attract the highest US tariff of 50 per cent along with Brazil. Both Russia and China, among others, have slammed Mr Trump for exerting illegal trade pressure on India.
On Tuesday, Ms Leavitt told a media briefing that the intent behind the sanctions was to put secondary pressure on Russia.
“Look, the president has put tremendous public pressure to bring this war to a close. He’s taken actions, as you’ve seen, sanctions on India and other actions as well. He’s made himself very clear that he wants to see this war end, and he has scoffed at the ideas of others that have been raised that we should wait another month before any meeting takes place,” she said in Washington.