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India on Thursday emphasised that its approach to Russian oil imports is guided by energy security requirements and many regions and countries have taken policy decisions recently with a similar perspective.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a regular media briefing that the import of Russian oil is "not an India-related issue at all". "We have consistently maintained that our approach is guided by our energy security requirements. You would note that many regions and countries have taken policy decisions recently with a similar perspective. We would like to reiterate that this is not an India-related issue at all," Bagchi said. He was answering a query on increase in the import of Russian crude oil. In 2020-21, India imported 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements and 54 per cent of its natural gas requirement. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said earlier that crude oil imports from Russia were a minuscule part of total such imports and the government was open to buying it if the terms were right. The Union Minister had also referred to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on fuel prices. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had also said in April that India's total purchases of Russian oil for one month were less than what Europe does in one afternoon. (ANI)
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