New Delhi, Dec 5 (UNI) Amid the US slapping punitive sanctions on New Delhi for its purchase of Russian oil, India said today that ensuring stable energy prices and secure supplies are the twin goals of its sourcing policy.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, answering a question on the US sanctions on India for purchase of Russian oil, said at a briefing on Russian President Putin's visit: "In so far as discussion on energy is concerned, and the narrative on energy security, we have been fairly clear in communicating that as a significant importer of energy, our priority is to ensure that 1.4 billion people in India have their energy needs secured. And our energy sourcing policies are guided entirely by this imperative. Ensuring stable energy prices and secure supplies are the twin goals of our sourcing policy.
"Part of this involves therefore goes into diversifying energy supplies, and our partners, traditional as well as new, understand this and appreciate this. They also appreciate that Indian companies, both private and public, will take decisions based on the evolving market dynamics and the commercial issues they confront while sourcing their supplies. Within this approach, we are continuing our cooperation between the two countries."
On the issue of payments in national currencies, Foreign Secretary Misri said: "Both countries are continuing to work together to promote mutual trade in our national currencies.
"You would be aware that Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) have been opened in significant numbers. They right now form a very effective mechanism in terms of lubricating, so to speak, the trade flows between the two countries.
"In terms of numbers, I think there are close to two dozen banks that have opened a large number of special rupee vostro accounts to facilitate trade.
"We also hope, one of the major objectives during this visit was to reach understanding on how to increase Indian exports to Russia so that we can better address the trade imbalance between the two countries.
"I think doing these two things together, the handling the trade balance together with expanding opportunities for settlement in national currencies will allow us to move towards this particular objective."
On the bilateral relationship, he said: "The India Russia relationship is an important relationship, not just bilaterally but in terms of its regional as well as global significance, and remains an important anchor in a very complex geopolitical context.
"This particular visit was focused on economic issues, on further building the industrial partnership, the investment partnership between the two countries; these are issues that have risen to the fore in current times, where global supply chains are under stress, trade relations are under stress, and investment is becoming more unpredictable, and therefore in this environment to focus on these issues is a message in itself."