Brussels: India’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, has responded to the EU’s call for action against India over Russian oil. The EU Foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, had earlier called for action against Indian refined products from Russian crude. However, Mr Jaishankar advised him to look at EU Council regulations, as Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore.
He urged Mr Borrell to look at Council’s Regulation 833/2014. This comes after the bloc’s chief diplomat had suggested that the EU should crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels into Europe, as Western nations move to tighten sanctions on Moscow’s energy sector.
On 16th May, the first ministerial meeting of EU trade with India took place in Brussels. Tweeting pictures from the event, Dr. S Jaishankar wrote, “Just concluded an extremely productive 1st India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting. Thanks European Commission VPs”.
In a recent interview, EU’s Foreign policy chief Borrell stated that it is perfectly normal for India to purchase Russian oil. However, he also expressed his desire for the bloc to take action on refined products derived from Indian-made Russian crude.
Borrell had the opportunity to meet with Mr Jaishankar during the trade technology talks in Brussels, but was unfortunately absent from the subsequent press conference.