Last Update: May 30, 2023, 20:32 IST
Garcetti said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is affecting the global economy and India has also suffered from what is happening. (File photo: AP)
Ambassador said that India and US cannot stop the momentum of their relations due to issues on which they do not fully agree
India’s purchase of crude oil from Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine has been seen as a sore point for Western countries. However, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti told CNN-News18 in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that India has actually helped keep oil prices in check. He also underlined that the human impact of war cannot be ignored and a country like India knows it best.
“We will not stop speaking about Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine…and I think when I talk to my Indian friends, sovereignty over borders matters a lot in this country, and they understand. why the United States believes that rule of law, that central principle of international relations, should be respected and in some cases fought for,” Garcetti said. “I was in Ukraine in February and it’s not just about power politics, it’s about people, it’s about senior pensioner who had a missile smash through his apartment which has no strategic value No… parents who are separated from their children living in another country with family they have never met… We cannot forget the human impact and a country like India which has experienced war, I think he knows and feels.
He said that India and the US cannot stop the momentum of their relations because of issues on which they do not fully agree. “We know we can continue to work together, even where, as all good friends do, we don’t agree a hundred percent all the time. But I think India believes that sovereignty How important is the issue of…boundaries and how important it is to respect them, and we will keep saying that you don’t have to be involved in this war to feel its effects.’
Garcetti said the conflict is affecting the global economy and India has also suffered from what is happening.
Talking about India’s oil imports from Russia, the ambassador said, “Our position is that India has actually helped us to maintain the price cap which was the essential principle… It is a ban on this oil.” But the price range was, and so India’s participation is really meeting that target for us… whether we have to see whether it goes up or something, we’ll have to revisit that, but right now it is consistent with how the alliance has come together… we understand oil is an international commodity and prices affect all of us but at the same time, whether it’s diamonds or technology, other places where we want to make sure That aggression has a price… We’ll continue to move very aggressively after that and hopefully bring like-minded people on board with us,” Garcetti told CNN-News18.
According to Energy Cargo Tracker data, Russia’s share in India’s crude imports is set to increase from 0.2% of all oil imports as of March 31, 2022, to 22% in October 2022 and further to 36% in April 2023. Cyclone.
The G7 countries had imposed a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian oil in December 2022.
