'National Interest Will Be The Guiding Factor': Foreign Secretary On India's Russian Oil Purchases

Amid reports of India slashing its Russian crude oil imports, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during a press conference held on Monday, February 9, said India's energy purchases will be guided by national interest.

"We are neither dependent on any single source for this, nor do we intend to be. And it is natural for the mix of sources to vary from time to time, depending on objective market conditions. Our approach is to maintain multiple sources of supply and diversify them as appropriate to ensure stability," he said.

"Therefore, I would say that the more diversified we are in this area, the more secure we are. So far, as actual sourcing of energy is concerned—again, all of you follow this closely, so you know that the actual sourcing is done by oil companies. Oil companies in the public sector, oil companies in the private sector. And they make decisions based on market conditions. They assess availability at any given point in time, they assess risks, they assess costs in this process," he added.

Further, he noted the key drivers when it comes to purchases in the energy sector are "adequate availability, fair pricing and reliability of supply."

While highlighting the role of accountability when it comes to making energy purchases, Misri mentioned that "all of these companies also have their own internal accountability-related processes to look at and certain fiduciary responsibilities in the market."

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Meanwhile, India as part of the Ind-US interim deal framework plans to buy $500 billion worth of goods from the US over the next five years, including energy products.

Misri also noted that for a country like India, which is a "net importer" in the oil and gas sector has to be "conscious" about "resource availability."

"Naturally, when you are dependent to the extent of 80–85% on an imported resource, you have to have concerns about the possibility of inflation driven by energy costs. So, it’s not surprising therefore that our foremost priority is to safeguard the interests of Indian consumers insofar as energy is concerned—to really ensure that they receive adequate energy at the right price and through reliable and secure supplies."