The United States of America (USA) has said that India’s buying of Russian petroleum products since the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year was a “sovereign decision.”
Asked to comment about the increase in petroleum purchases by India from Russia in recent months, Elizabeth Jones, the U.S. charge d’ affaires in New Delhi said: “It’s a sovereign decision. It has to be a sovereign decision.
The statement comes after criticism of India from some countries, notably the Ukraine, for buying petroleum products from Moscow. India has made it clear that the decision was in national interest, keeping in mind Indian energy security needs.
Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, she said that both India and the USA support a rules-based international order and pointed out that India has sent humanitarian aid to Kiev.
Jones said that most countries do not support what Russia has done. Speaking about the insecurities the invasion has led to, she said that in the past, “there was no question of Sweden and Finland joining NATO (the military alliance led by the USA)”.
The war, she said, has led to an increase in food and energy insecurity in many countries.
Asked whether the United States government officials would have problems about being in the same room at the same time as Russian officials, she said: “Are we prepared to be in the same room as the Russians? Yes.”
This will make India, which is holding the G-20 summit in July next year and expects both US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin to be present, breathe more easily.
The CDA said the USA is very “energised” that India has taken over the G-20 and while there was a tremendous amount of discussion on the war in Ukraine, the decisions were about economic issues and about climate change, health and education.
