India On Wrong Side Of History, Says US

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What has happened?

Responding to reports that India may take up Russia’s offer of discounted crude oil, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that it would not be a violation of US sanctions on Russia amid the Ukraine invasion.
Asked pointedly about the same at a press conference, Jen Psaki said, “I don’t believe this would be violating that [sanctions].“
However, she added that such a decision could put India on the wrong side of history.
“But also think about where you want to stand when history books are written at this moment in time. Support for the Russian leadership is support for an invasion that obviously is having a devastating impact,” Jen Psaki said.
She added, “Our message to any country continues to be that abide by the sanctions that we have put in place and recommended.”

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reportedly told Indian Petroleum minister Hardeep Puri in a phone call that, The country is keen to increase its oil and petroleum product exports to India along with Indian investments in the Russian oil sector, according to a statement issued by Moscow.
Reuters reported New Delhi was mulling the option of buying Russian oil on which Putin is offering a heavy discount.

Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, bought 3 million barrels of Russian Urals from trader Vitol for May delivery, trade sources said, its first purchase of the grade since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Sources said IOC does not see any problem in paying for the cargo as oil as a commodity is not banned and it was not dealing with a sanctioned entity.
Vitol sold the cargoes at a discount of $20-$25 a barrel to dated Brent, one of the sources said.

These ‘experts’ have seemed to conveniently ignore that all NATO countries have continued to purchase billions of dollars worth of Russian oil and gas while using heavy words to denounce the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
All major NATO nations have also supplied a lot of arms and weapons to Ukraine in the meanwhile, while they have continued to purchase Russian oil and gas.

So basically, they are paying both sides to continue the war.
Not just oil and gas, but these nations are also importing Uranium, fertilizers and other products from Russia.

India is exploring alternative payment channels for trade with Russia and the possibility of sourcing additional oil at a discount.
India is heavily dependent on oil imports, the bulk of which comes from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and South-East Asia.
Russia’s oil-related exports to India are only about $1 billion.
However, Russia is keen to scale this up.
This offers the opportunity for a lucrative supply deal with Russia.
India, however, needs to find alternative payment channels due to the evolving crisis.
This is also crucial for bilateral non-oil trade.
Western curbs cutting off some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system has proven to be a setback for bilateral trade,
With payments worth $500 million to Indian exporters for goods already shipped reportedly being stuck.