India purchasing Russian oil, regardless of US sanctions waiver — report
India has indicated that it is purchasing Russian oil regardless of US sanctions waivers according to news reports.
Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the petroleum ministry, clarified this during a media briefing.
"Regarding (the) American waiver on Russia, ?I would like to emphasize ?that we have been purchasing from Russia earlier ... I mean before waiver also, during ?waiver also, and now also," the Reuters news agency quoted Sharma as saying.
"It is ?basically the commercial sense which should be ?there for ?us to ?purchase ... There is no shortage ?of crude. Enough crude has been tied up repeatedly ... ?and ?this, whatever waiver or no waiver, ?it ?will not affect," she said.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump allowed a sanctions waiver to lapse.
It had allowed countries — including India — to buy Russian seaborne ?oil.
Previously, the waiver was renewed in April amid criticism from US lawmakers that it undermines efforts to deprive Russia of its oil revenue as it continues a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In August last year, the Trump administration said it would impose a 50% tariff on some Indian exports to the US over continued purchases of Russian oil.
