"“Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore.” This was the reply of External affairs minister S Jaishankar when European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell’s call for action against the sale of Indian refined products, made from the Russian crude. Borrell called for a crackdown on India reselling Russian crude as refined fuel in Europe. Responding to this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asked him to Look at EU Council regulations, Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council's Regulation 833/2014,"" he said. But this wasn’t the first time that S Jaishankar had to defend India’s choice to buy cheap Russian oil. Earlier also he had defended India's imports from Russia while indirectly criticising the West for pressurising New Delhi to minimise its trade with Russia in view of its military action in Ukraine. He wondered how Europe could make choices to prioritise its own energy needs and at the same time ask India to do something else. However, questions have been r aised on India’s decision to buy Cheap Russian crude and sell refined oil product to the west. Both from outside and inside. Last month, report by CREA said that India leads the group of ‘laundromat countries’ that buy discounted crude oil from Russia, refine it, and sell the processed products to European countries, thus sidestepping European sanctions against Russia.
India has time and again said that its decision to buy cheap Russian oil is to take care the energy need of Indians. Once S Jaishankar had even said that “we don’t send people to buy Russian oil, we send people to buy oil in the market, buy the best oil.” He defended the move saying that India was looking after its interest.
But since the fuel prices in India continue to remain at record high, critics are questioning who really is benefitting from the Russian Crude oil? Let’s break down this story in today’s video.
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