Bristol Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s joint address to Congress, Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D, MA-04) and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R, IA-02), members of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, sent a bipartisan letter to the Honorable Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Ambassador of India to the United States, to encourage India to reassess its importation of Russian oil.

In the letter the members stated, “We are distressed to see that arrivals of Russian oil shipments to India are assessed to have reached a record high of 8.6 million tons (62.8 million barrels) in May. Indian payments for Russian oil are helping to fund the Kremlin’s barbaric, unprovoked, and internationally condemned war in Ukraine.

“As the ties between the United States and India continue to strengthen, we encourage the government of India to reassess its importation of Russian oil, to better align its energy policy with the values and interests at stake in Ukraine.” 

A full copy of the letter can be found below. 

The Honorable Taranjit Singh Sandhu 

Ambassador of India to the United States 

Embassy of India 

2107 Massachusetts Ave NW 

Washington, DC 20008 

Dear Ambassador Sandhu:  

We are pleased to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Joint Address to Congress on June 22, 2023. As members of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, we intend for our Committee’s work to strengthen the U.S.-India relationship and the advancement of a free and open Indo-Pacific.  

One of the first reports issued by the Committee recommended the United States expand the NATO Plus arrangement to include India, with the conviction that our two democracies must tighten cooperation based on shared values, economic interests, and security priorities.  

As you know, NATO partners are united in their support for Ukraine through coordinated sanctions and a closely negotiated price cap on Russian oil. Current NATO Plus members are complying with the price cap regime or working to reduce their country’s dependence on Russian oil. For example, South Korea imported no Russian crude in the first three months of this year, compared to the 132,000 b/d it imported in the same period last year. In December 2022, Australia also implemented price caps on Russian refined petroleum products.   

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, has called the price cap an important “safety valve” and a crucial policy that has forced Russia to sell oil for far less than international benchmark prices, depriving it of much-needed hard currency for military operations.    

We are distressed to see that arrivals of Russian oil shipments to India are assessed to have reached a record high of 8.6 million tons (62.8 million barrels) in May. Indian payments for Russian oil are helping to fund the Kremlin’s barbaric, unprovoked, and internationally condemned war in Ukraine. 

As the ties between the United States and India continue to strengthen, we encourage the government of India to reassess its importation of Russian oil, to better align its energy policy with the values and interests at stake in Ukraine. 

We look forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the House Chamber and appreciate your consideration of our concerns. 

Original source can be found here.