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Amid phase two of the price cap imposed on the purchase of Russian oil, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that India's decisions are guided by its energy security requirements and that is of prime consideration.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India purchases from the international market, wherever it is available at the "cheapest available rate". Addressing the weekly press briefing, Jaiswal said, "For us, anything to do with energy security, oil purchases, are buying in the international market. All these are guided by our energy security requirements, and it's a commercial exercise that we do. It's a commercial venture that we engage." "We buy oil from the international market, wherever it is available, at the cheapest available rate. We have to ensure our energy security and that's of prime consideration," he added. This comes as a team of the US Treasury Department is in India, amid phase two of the price cap on Russian oil imposed by the G7, the European Union, and Australia. In December 2022, the G7 grouping and its allies announced a cap on the price of Russian oil as part of a series of punitive measures against Moscow following the start of the conflict with Ukraine. Earlier in the day, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy of the United States Department of Treasury, Eric Van Nostrand, hailed Washington's decision to implement a price cap on Russian oil, stating that the decision made Moscow sell oil at discounted rates to other countries, including India. "We know that the Indian economy has much at stake in the Russian oil trade, and has much at stake from the global supply disruptions that the price cap is designed to avoid. The price cap's goals are to limit Putin's revenue and maintain global oil supply--essentially by creating a mechanism for India and other partners to access Russian oil at discounted prices," Nostrand said at an event in the national capital. Another senior US official said that the United States has not asked India to stop or reduce its oil imports from Russia nor has it sanctioned any Indian entity for buying and refining crude oil purchased from Russia. "There is no restriction, we have not asked India to reduce Russian oil buying," Anna Morris, Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, said. "Not dictating that no trade can be done with Russia." Morris also stressed that once Russian oil is refined, it is no longer Russian oil. "I also want to specify that once Russian oil is refined, from technical perspective, it is no longer Russian oil," she said. (ANI)
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