Sameed Basha

The View | India’s Ukraine war stance is starting to look less like neutrality and more like a pro-Russia position

The case of Russian oil circumventing US sanctions via an Indian port has renewed attention to India’s rising Russian oil imports and raised doubts about its neutral stance

India has its own geopolitical calculations but US allies may question the special treatment granted to New Delhi, which could fragment the front against Russia

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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the International Day of Yoga in front of Mysore Palace on June 21. Observers are questioning his balancing act. Photo: AFP

Sameed Basha

Published: 11:30am, 29 Aug 2022

Economic sanctions will not deter Russia from continuing its war in Ukraine, as long as back-door economic deals, such as those involving crude oil exports, continue to prop up its war efforts. The US Treasury Department told India that through high-seas transfers, Russian crude oil was taken to a port in the Indian state of Gujarat, where it was refined and then shipped to New York.

The transfers violate the sanctions on Russian-origin energy products. Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Michael Patra has explained how the US sanctions were bypassed: “The refined output was put back on that ship and it set sail without a destination. In the mid-seas it received the destination so it reached its course, went to New York.”

American concern about the case aside, from the outset, India has defied the efforts spearheaded by the United States to bring justice to the people of Ukraine. New Delhi has abstained from voting on motions against Russia’s invasion in the UN Security Council and General Assembly.

Unlike many other democracies, India has maintained relations by walking a tightrope of neutrality, often insisting it does so to look after its interests. Still, observers are calling it what it is: a quiet pro-Moscow position.

Russian oil imports now comprise nearly a fifth of India’s total imports. In June, India’s oil imports from Russia increased by 15.5 per cent compared to May, while those from the traditional sources of Iraq and Saudi Arabia dropped by 10.5 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively.

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Why India is walking a diplomatic tightrope over Ukraine-Russia crisis

Last month, India overtook China as the biggest buyer of Russian oil despite importing 7.3 per cent less than in June, shifting some buying back to Saudi Arabia, perhaps in an attempt to quieten global condemnation.