US Treasury Secretary Accuses India of "Profiteering" Over Russian Energy Purchases

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused India of profiteering by purchasing Russian energy cheaply and reselling refined energy products in global markets. This comes as a response to Washington's decision not to punish China for similar trade with Russia. Bessent defended the decision, stating that China's oil imports from Russia were diversified and did not constitute profiteering. In contrast, he noted that India's oil imports from Russia had increased from less than 1% to 42% after the Ukraine war broke out, generating $16 billion in excess profits for some of India's richest families.

Key Takeaways:

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused India of "profiteering" by purchasing Russian energy cheaply and reselling refined energy products in global markets.
• Bessent defended Washington's decision not to punish China for similar trade with Russia, stating that China's oil imports from Russia were diversified and did not constitute profiteering.
• India's oil imports from Russia increased from less than 1% to 42% after the Ukraine war broke out, generating $16 billion in excess profits for some of India's richest families.
• Bessent referred to India's practice as "the Indian arbitrage" and described it as unacceptable.
• White House trade adviser Peter Navarro made similar accusations against New Delhi, claiming India's purchases of Russian energy were "opportunistic" and "corrosive" to global efforts to isolate Russia's economy.
• Navarro stated that if India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one.
• Tensions between India and the US have risen over deadlocked trade talks and Indian purchases of energy from Russia.

Statistics:

• India's oil imports from Russia increased from less than 1% to 42% after the Ukraine war broke out.
• India generated $16 billion in excess profits from reselling refined energy products.
• 13% of China's oil was coming from Russia before the 2022 invasion, while now it's 16%.
• 16% of China's oil now comes from Russia.

Sources:

• HT Digital Content Services with permission from HT Chandigarh.