Russian oil roil

India can easily meet its needs from alternative sources, but the import bill will be a hefty one

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India has rightly pushed back against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) secretary general Mark Rutte's warning this week that countries like India, China, and Brazil could face secondary sanctions if they continue doing business with Russia. Threatening a sovereign nation for prioritizing its economic interests, especially when Western countries have historically done the same, reeks of hypocrisy. One cannot but agree with the government's view that strategic autonomy in energy policy is non-negotiable, even amid shifting geopolitical equations.

India has also done well to point out the "double standards", in a possible reference to the fact that European Union members continue to procure oil, liquefied natural gas, and pipeline gas from Russia despite the sanctions, and are also major buyers of processed products that go through Indian refineries, including Nayara Energy in which Russia's ROSNEFT has minority control.