New Delhi: Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak has welcomed India's decision not to support the price cap on Russian oil, which was imposed on December 5 by the G7 countries and their allies. His comments come even as EAM S Jaishankar last week in Parliament expressed concern about the price cap. Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak was holding a working meeting with the Ambassador of India to Russia Pavan Kapoor.
The parties noted the record growth in trade between the two countries and expressed the desire to continue this interaction, increasing cooperation on trade in energy resources, such as oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, coal, and fertilizer. In 2021, bilateral trade between Russia and India increased by 46.5 per cent, exceeding $13.5 billion. In January-September 2022, trade exceeded the figure for all of last year, totalling 20.4 billion.
Over the first eight months of 2022, Russian oil exports to India grew to 16.35 million tonnes; in the summer, Russia ranked second in terms of oil shipments to India. Deliveries of oil products and coal also increased. The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed India's decision not to support the price cap on Russian oil, which was imposed on December 5 by the G7 countries and their allies.
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He noted that even amid the energy crisis, Russia is responsibly fulfilling its contractual obligations for the supply of energy resources, diversifying energy exports to the countries in the east and south. “The introduction of a price cap on Russian oil is an anti-market measure. It disrupts supply chains and could significantly complicate the situation in global energy markets", Alexander Novak said.
"Such non-market mechanisms disrupt the international trading system as a whole and set a dangerous precedent in the energy market. As a result, the problem of energy poverty is being aggravated not only in the developing world, but also in the developed countries of Europe,” he added.
In order not to depend on the ban on insurance services and tanker chartering in the European Union and Britain, the Deputy Prime Minister offered India cooperation in leasing and building large-capacity ships. Alexander Novak invited India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri to take part in the international forum, Russian Energy Week 2023, which will be held on October 11-13, 2023 in Moscow.
