‘Very perplexed’ by US tariffs on India for purchase of Russian oil, says S Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said he was “very perplexed” by the United States imposing punitive tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil, reported The Hindu.
This was so because it was Washington that had asked India to do “everything to stabilise” the global energy market, “including buying oil from Russia”, claimed Jaishankar, who was on a three-day visit to Russia.
The comments came amid diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Washington after the Donald Trump administration on August 6 doubled the tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% for purchasing Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine.
Trump has repeatedly alleged that India’s purchases of Russian oil were “fuelling the war machine”.
“We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil,” Jaishankar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “That is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian LNG, I am not sure, but I think that is the European Union.”
The minister added: “We also buy oil from America, and that amount has been increasing. So quite honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument.”