Pakistan buying Russian oil despite US opposition indicated a broader impact of New Delhi’s independent path amid highly politicized economic policy, Col. Manoj Kumar Singh, Director (Research) of the New Delhi-based Forum for Global Studies, has told Sputnik.
“India has been instrumental in demonstrating to the world how the hegemony of the West, especially the USA, must be deflected with the armor of economic strength and diplomacy,” Singh reckoned.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar conveyed to the US last month that his government could import Russian oil - like its neighbor India does. Furthermore, on Sunday, Dar spoke about taking “important steps” on crude imports from Russia, adding that Islamabad expects a similar “discount” to the one which has been provided to India.
Following India and Myanmar, Sri Lanka has also purchased around two-third of its oil imports from Russia since May this year, in a bid to ease difficulties faced by the 22-million population due to the fuel crisis and over 60% inflation.
Bangladesh is also mulling oil purchases from Russia to mitigate the unprecedented power crisis, crippling the industries of its $416 billion economy, with the discussions on the matter expected to take place next week.
New Delhi’s foreign policy regarding the Ukrainian crisis has also been noticed in the Arab world, as Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, showered India with praise for prioritizing “national interests.”
“India indeed was extremely successful in nudging many other countries to take their independent decisions, without getting bound by highly politicized international blocs viz. Saudi Arabia refusing to increase the oil production despite America’s request and instead, it entered a long-term energy agreement with China,” Singh noted.
India had to walk a very tightrope in diplomacy as soon as Russia announced the launch of its special military operation in February this year.
“India was quick to take the offer of Russian oil at the discounted price without much ado, displaying its strong emergence in the comity of nations…Of course, these actions have lit the torch of national pride even in the smaller nations in the neighborhood,” the Indian expert underlined.
The Indian government has said that its crude imports from “time-tested friend” Russia are part of New Delhi’s “inflation management strategy”, given high energy prices caused by Western efforts to phase out Russian energy from the market, which has triggered inflationary pressure in developed and developing nations and hampered the post-COVID economic recovery.