Rajat Sharma’s Blog | Oil exemption from Russia is useless, India was already buying it

The first direct impact of the war between Iran and America was visible on India. Crude oil imports from Russia increased further. America had to say that due to the war, the supply of crude oil from the Gulf was stopped, which could lead to a fuel crisis. US Finance Minister Scott Besant announced that America has given India permission to buy crude oil from Russia for thirty days and this exemption is temporary. India will buy oil from Russia, although India has already increased imports of crude oil from Russia. But the style and words with which the US Finance Minister announced to allow India to buy oil from Russia is surprising.

Regarding the announcement of the US Finance Minister, the leaders of the opposition parties bombarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi with questions and accused him of mortgaging the country to America. From Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD to Asaduddin Owaisi, everyone attacked Modi. But the question is who asked permission from America? Had India stopped importing oil from Russia before Scott Besant’s statement? How much oil is India buying from Russia?

Scott Besant has said that India is being deliberately given concession for such a short period because it will not bring any major economic benefit to the Russian government. America is approving only those oil deals under which tankers carrying oil have already left and are stranded in the sea due to the Iran war. The timing and language of this tweet by Scott Besant is against diplomatic etiquette. His statement became a political issue in India.

After this, America’s Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said another thing which gave another opportunity to the opposition parties to attack the Modi government. In the Raisina Dialogue held in Delhi, the US Deputy Secretary of State said that America has learned a lesson from past mistakes, now America will not give as much freedom to India as America gave to China 20 years ago. Christopher Landau said, “India should understand that America will no longer make the same mistake that it made in the case of China twenty years ago, America gave concessions to China, helped China in economic development and today China has become America’s rival, America no longer wants another rival, so American interests will be taken care of before India.”

America is looking after its own interests, there is no harm in it, but it is trying to show that America is also deciding from which country India will buy oil and from which country it will not. This is wrong. Let me tell you why it is wrong. The reality is that even before Scott Besant’s tweet, India had decided to increase the purchase of oil from Russia.

The supply of crude oil from Russia to India has also started. About 95 lakh barrels of Russian crude oil will reach India in a week. Of the two Russian oil tankers that have been diverted and sent to India, one filled with 14 lakh barrels of oil has reached Paradip Port in Odisha while the other is about to reach Vadinar Port in Gujarat. Apart from this, another tanker going to Singapore carrying Russian oil has also been diverted towards India. Excess crude oil from Russia has reached India. After this, when Scott Besant is claiming that America has given India permission to buy oil from Russia for 30 days, then who will believe it? Anyway, India is already importing about 20 percent of its oil requirement from Russia. Even today we are buying more than 1 million barrels of oil from Russia every day.

Even when America imposed tariffs on India, oil imports from Russia increased instead of decreasing. Even at present, India has huge reserves of oil and natural gas. No one needs to worry for a month, but if the war drags on, other ways of importing oil will have to be found. The Indian government is working on this.

India is not dependent only on the Strait of Hormuz for oil and gas. Oil is coming from other routes. The most satisfactory situation at present is regarding LPG. The storage of LPG is sufficient and there is no problem regarding production. The government has issued orders to all refineries to increase the production of LPG. 33 crore people in India use LPG, if needed, the LPG which is being used in industries, will be diverted for consumption in kitchens. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured that there is no shortage of oil and gas in India right now and there is no need for people to worry.

On the other hand, opposition parties attacked Prime Minister Modi after Scott Besant’s announcement, accusing the government of being in the presence of America. Everyone from Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh to Pawan Kheda spoke. Rahul Gandhi said that today’s weak foreign policy is the result of the weakness of a compromised Prime Minister. Asaduddin Owaisi cursed Modi in his speech after Friday prayers. Owaisi said, one American minister is allowing India to buy oil and another minister comes to Delhi and teases India, but BJP, which talks about 56 inch chest, is silent.

This is not the first time that Modi is being criticized for America’s statements. When Trump talked about stopping the India-Pakistan war, when Trump imposed 50 percent tariff on India, when Trump asked India to stop purchasing oil from Russia, every time questions were raised on Modi’s silence. But Modi never cared about such things. Ultimately Trump himself proved to be a liar.

As far as permission for India to buy oil from Russia is concerned, neither did anyone ask for permission, nor did anyone give permission. India was buying oil from Russia earlier also, India buys oil from Russia even today. President Trump showed no favors. This is a way of hiding one’s failure. Due to the war with Iran, oil prices have increased in America, the supply of oil and gas in Europe has stopped, there is tremendous pressure on Trump.

A large part of the oil that India buys from other countries is sent to Europe after being processed in our refineries. India took advantage of this opportunity and increased oil imports from Russia. This will reduce the tension of European countries a little. That is why Trump tried to show that to reduce the problems of other countries, America has given India 30 days freedom to buy oil from Russia. (Rajat Sharma)

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