New York: India should take President Donald Trump’s concerns over its procurement of Russian crude oil seriously and work with the White House to find a solution to the issue, Republican leader Nikki Haley has said.
The Trump administration has been severely critical of India for its procurement of discounted crude oil from Russia. Interestingly, Washington has not been criticising China, the largest importer of Russian crude oil.
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
Haley, the Indian-origin Republican leader, on Saturday posted on ‘X’ a portion of an opinion piece she wrote in the Newsweek four days back.
The former South Carolina governor’s social media post urging New Delhi to take President Trump’s concerns over the Russian crude oil seriously came after she faced criticism within her party following the opinion piece.
In the article, Haley argued that India must be treated like the “prized free and democratic partner that it is—not an adversary like China.”
“Scuttling 25 years of momentum with the only country that can serve as a counterweight to Chinese dominance in Asia would be a strategic disaster,” she wrote.
In her post on Saturday, Haley said, “India must take Trump’s point over Russian oil seriously, and work with the White House to find a solution. The sooner the better.”
“Decades of friendship and goodwill between the world’s two largest democracies provide a solid basis to move past the current turbulence,” she said.
“Navigating issues like trade disagreements and Russian oil imports demands hard dialogue. But, we should not lose sight of what matters most: our shared goals. To face China, the United States must have a friend in India.”
A number of officials of the Trump administration have been critical of India for its energy ties with Russia.
White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro on Wednesday accused India of running a “profiteering scheme” by using discounted Russian crude oil and then selling refined petroleum products at premium prices in Europe and other places.
Washington has been arguing that India’s purchases of Russian crude oil are funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
India has strongly rejected the charges.
“It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.
He was responding to a question on the US criticism of India on the crude oil issue during an event.
“That’s really curious. If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don’t buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. But Europe buys, America buys, so you don’t like it, don’t buy it,” he said.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturn after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent including a 25 per cent additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.
New Delhi turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
