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Russia-India Relations: Constant American pressure on India was described as unfair and said that such approaches and restrictions are harmful to global economic stability and energy security.
Russia-India Relations: Russia is capable of facing any challenge amidst the ongoing uproar in the global market. Russia’s Foreign Minister Roman Babushkin said these things on Wednesday. Said that Russia has a ‘special system’ to face any challenge arising out of the US implementation of punitive measures for the purchase of Russian crude oil against India. The relations between New Delhi and Washington have declined by US President Donald Trump to double the tariff on Indian goods to 50 percent, which includes 25 percent additional fees for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil. In a media briefing, Babushkin estimated a rapid improvement in its country’s relations with New Delhi in many important areas and said Russia has been a favorite partner for India’s various military platforms and hardware.
American pressure on India unfair
The Russian External Affairs Minister called American pressure unfair to prevent Russian oil from purchasing Russian oil and said that such approaches and restrictions are harmful to global economic stability and energy security. This is a challenging situation for India. We have confidence in our partnership with India and is committed to solving the challenges faced in energy relations between the two countries. Babushkin expressed confidence that India-Russia energy cooperation will continue to increase. Last week, US Finance Minister Scott Besant warned that if India continues to buy Russian crude oil, the Trump administration can increase the secondary fee on India. Although the US imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on India for its energy relations with Russia, it has not initiated similar action against China, the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil.
India buying Russian oil in national interest
Amid American threats, India said on the purchase of Russian crude oil that it is buying oil from Russia in view of the national interest. After the ban on Moscow by Western countries and the attack on Ukraine in February 2022, India started buying Russian oil sold at a discount. Russia’s stake increased to 35.1 percent in 2024-25. Russia is now India’s largest oil supplier. Whereas in 2019-20, there was only 1.7 percent stake in total oil imports. If you say imaginatively, India refuses to buy Russian oil, then it will not be able to get a mutually beneficial cooperation with the West.
BRICS role important amidst global upheaval
The Russian diplomat said that she (Western powers) is behaving like neo-colonial powers. Russian Foreign Minister Babushkin said that India and Russia will take bilateral trade to $ 100 billion by 2030. In response to a question about American tariff on Indian goods, he said that the Russian market will welcome Indian exports. The Russian Foreign Minister said that the dates of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India have not been decided later this year. In response to a question, he said that the role of BRICS will increase as a stable force among the existing global upheaval. He said that in the context of GDP, the BRICS economy has a size of about 77 trillion US $ 77, while for Group of Seven (G-7) countries it is US $ 57 trillion. He argued that BRICS is emerging as a major economic power. The Russian diplomat also said that defense and security cooperation between India and Russia is sure to expand further.
