Don't go too far: US on India buying Russian oil

New Delhi, June 10

The Biden administration’s top international energy adviser Amos Hochstein has cautioned India against going “too far” in purchasing Russian oil so as not to look like “you’re taking advantage of the pain that is being felt in European households and the US”.

The renewed attempt by the West to pressurise India to change its foreign policy stance comes a week after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar put down his interlocutors during a visit to Europe.

“Indian purchases of seaborne Russian oil have surged as exporters slash prices for Urals, the country’s main crude export stream, after European refineries began shunning the cargos and the EU moved to end its dependence on Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The deals are causing frustration in western countries, which are paying higher prices for oil in part due to efforts to restrict Russian export revenue that is being used to wage war,” the official reportedly told a Senate committee hearing.