No moral conflict in India buying Russian oil : Hardeep Puri

New Delhi : Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri has said that India doesn’t have any moral conflict on purchasing oil from Russia, which has faced criticism internationally due to its war with Ukraine.

In an interview with CNN in Abu Dhabi, Puri while responding to a question on whether India felt any moral conflict while seeking oil supplies from Russia, replied: “Absolutely none.””Absolutely none, absolutely none.

There is no moral conflict. We don’t buy from X or Y. We buy whatever is available. I don’t do the buying. The government does not do it. Oil companies do. We owe a moral duty to our consumers,” he said.

“We don’t feel any pressure. Modi’s government doesn’t feel the pressure. We are the fifth largest economy in the world. India will respond according to its supreme national interest,” he added.

Though India has not taken any sides in international fora over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told Russian President Vladimir Putin in September during the SCO summit in Uzbekistan, that it was not a time for war with food and fertiliser being major concerns in the world at present.