India won’t sacrifice interests under Western pressure – Russian ambassador – RT India
New Delhi pursues a balanced and independent foreign policy, according to Denis Alipov
Efforts by the United States and its allies to pressure India into joining their campaign against Russia have been unsuccessful, Moscow’s ambassador to New Delhi, Denis Alipov, has said.
“Western pressure on India continues. The policy in this regard is openly formulated by the United States – it is to separate it [India] From Russia,” Alipov told Izvestia newspaper in an interview published on Monday.
The Russian diplomat added that “Maintaining friendly relations with our country is in India’s national interest. I believe he won’t sacrifice them at someone else’s whim.
Amid the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine, New Delhi has been “lead a balanced policy, demonstrate independence in decision-making”, Alipov insisted. “Political pressure tactics don’t work with that.”
Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, India has been reluctant to give in to US and EU demands to condemn Moscow or join Western sanctions.
During a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the G7 summit last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi would “all we can” to help resolve the crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.
Meanwhile, India has strengthened its economic ties with Russia, with trade turnover of $39.8 billion last year, according to New Delhi. Both nations previously aimed to cross the $30 billion mark by 2025.
Russia has become India’s biggest oil supplier, with deliveries increasing twelvefold in 2022 to 24 million tonnes, Alipov pointed out. “It is important that the parties are interested in long-term contracts and not just when it comes to oil,” he added. he added.
Moscow and New Delhi are “to create and perfect mechanisms that allow us to continue to cooperate regardless of unilateral anti-Russian sanctions”, he stated.
One such mechanism is to switch to national currencies in bilateral trade, the ambassador explained, adding that India “obviously sees foreign currency risks.”
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“I guess we wouldn’t have given up on the dollar if we hadn’t been forced to. The de-dollarization trend is being put in place by the Americans themselves,” Alipov affirmed.
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