New Delhi: The assertive American stance vis-à-vis India’s dependence on Russia for arms has come in for severe criticism from a former diplomat and India’s ex-representative at the UN.
“So this is our friend…This is not the language of diplomacy…This is the language of coercion. Somebody tell this young man that punitive unilateral economic measures are a breach of customary international law…,” tweeted Syed Akbaruddin, former India’s Permanent Representative at the UN.
His message in the social media came in the context of US Deputy NSA trying to caution India to stop its ‘dependence’ on Russia for its defence and energy requirements.
“What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India’s imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime,” Singh has said.
During his two days’ stay in Delhi, Singh met his counterpart, Deputy NSA Vikram Misri, Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Union Finance Ministry.
Reports also claimed that Indian oil refiners have bought more than 13 million barrels of Russian oil since the Ukraine war began on February 24. India had bought 16 million barrels of Russian oil during the entire 2021.
“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,” Daleep Singh had said.
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