'Not in India's Interest to Increase Russian Energy Imports': White House

India’s imports of Russian energy represent only 1 to 2 percent of the country's total energy imports.

Joe Biden. Image used for representational purposes.

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The United States believes that it would not be in India's interest to accelerate its Russian imports of energy and other commodities, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday, 4 April.

The statement comes days after US Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh, while on a visit to Delhi, warned of consequences to countries that actively attempt to circumvent or backfill the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.

"What Daleep did make clear to his counterparts during this visit was that we don’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities," said Psaki on Monday, when asked about Singh's warning.

"Right now, just to give everybody the full scope of it, India’s imports of Russian energy represent only 1 to 2 percent of their total energy imports," she noted.

"So, while he explained both the mechanisms of our sanctions and reiterated that any country or entity should be abiding by those, we also made clear that we’d be happy to be a partner in reducing their reliance or even their small percentage of — of reliance on that."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

Saki also stated that "each country is going to make their own choices," but that the US will continue to expect that every country should abide by the sanctions that it has announced.

What Did NSA Daleep Singh Say?

Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh, on 31 March, had warned India and other nations, against conducting local currency transactions through the central bank of Russia or constructing any payment mechanism, which undermines the sanctions levied on Russia.

Singh, who had met India's foreign secretary on his visit to Delhi, had said, “I come here in a spirit of friendship to explain the mechanisms of our sanctions, the importance of joining us, to express a shared resolve and to advance shared interests. And yes, there are consequences to countries that actively attempt to circumvent or backfill the sanctions."