No one asked India to stop buying Russian oil, says Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri

India has clarified its stand on buying oil from Russia. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that it is the moral duty of the Government of India to provide energy to its people. Wherever we will get the oil, we will continue to buy it. Puri also emphasized that no one has forbade India to buy oil from Russia.

The Russo-Ukraine war is having far-reaching effects on the world's energy system. Old business relations are also getting spoiled due to imbalance in demand and supply. Due to this, the cost of energy has increased for all the consumers and trade and industry in the world. Along with the general public, its ill-effects on the pockets of industries and on the economy of the countries are also clearly visible.

Significantly, India's import of crude oil from Russia has increased by more than 50 times since April. India is currently importing 10% of the total crude oil imports from Russia. Before the Ukraine war, India used to import only 0.2 percent from Russia.

At the same time, Puri said that India will buy oil from where it will get, because such a discussion cannot be done for the population of India. New Delhi will not face pressure from Washington to cut its energy purchases from Russia.

Puri was in Washington DC on Thursday. He held several meetings with his US counterpart Jennifer Granholm and other top officials in the Biden administration. Puri said that has anyone asked me to stop buying Russian oil? The answer is not clear. India has sought a middle ground between Moscow and its Western critics and has largely resisted Western pressure for its economic ties with the Kremlin.

Puri said India is one of the largest oil importers and demand is expected to increase with the increase in India's per capita energy consumption, which is currently one-third of the global average. The demand for fuel is expected to increase with the growth of the country's economy. In the coming decade, 25 percent of the global growth in demand will come from India. India's economy is growing at the rate of 7 percent and energy is an important driver of that economic growth.

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