India on Thursday dismissed NATO chief Mark Rutte’s threat of “100 per cent secondary sanctions” on countries trading with Russia, particularly in gas and oil, warning the West against adopting any “double standards.”
Reacting to Rutte’s comments, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said securing the country’s energy needs remains an overriding priority, guided by what is available in the markets and the prevailing global circumstances.
“We have seen reports on the subject and are closely following the developments. Let me reiterate that securing energy needs of our people is understandably an overriding priority for us. In this endeavor, we are guided by what is on offer in the markets, and by the prevailing global circumstances.”
He further said that India would “particularly caution against any double standards” on the issue.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Rutte, according to Reuters, said countries in business with Russia should make a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and “tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks (on ending the Ukraine conflict), because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way”.
“My encouragement to these three countries, particularly, is if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard,” Rutte told reporters.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also said on Thursday that India “will deal with it” if the Russian supplies were hit by secondary sanctions.
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“India has diversified the sources of supply and we have gone, I think, from] about 27 countries that we used to buy [oil] from to about 40 countries now… If something happens, we’ll deal with it,” Puri said at an event in New Delhi.
The NATO chief’s comments come at a time of growing uncertainty in global trade, fuelled by tariff tensions with the US and scrutiny over India’s continued imports from Russia, particularly in the energy sector.
Just weeks ago, concerns emerged in India over a proposed US Bill that would impose 500 per cent tariffs on countries trading with Russia. More recently, US President Donald Trump warned of “biting” secondary tariffs—up to 100 per cent—on purchasers of Russian exports unless a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is reached within 50 days.
