MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2022) India has not joined the G7 initiative to put a price cap on Russian oil, and buys oil from the market and not directly from Russia, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday.
"On your question in relation to the Russian oil and the price cap coalition. India is not a member of the G7, just to be clear on that. Deeper discounts, market pricing... Look, we have said this several times and on other platforms also that when the Indian entities go out and try to respond to India's needs of the energy security and procure oil, they essentially procure it from the market. These are not government to government purchases that we do," Kwatra told a briefing.
On September 2, G7 finance ministers confirmed their intention to impose price caps for Russian oil and called on all nations to support the initiative. The price cap is planned to take effect on December 5 for crude oil and on February 5, 2023, for refined products coming from Russia. Moscow, in turn, pledged to altogether stop exporting Russian oil to the states that would introduce the limits.
Indian Energy Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, commenting on the G7 plan to put a price cap on Russian oil, said that India would carefully assess whether to support this proposal. The minister added that it was still unclear which countries would participate in the initiative and what consequences it might have for the markets. He also pointed out that he had no "moral conflict" in connection with the purchase of Russian oil, but had a moral duty to consumers in India.
