The world is going through turmoil due to an ongoing tussle between Russia and Western powers over the issue of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. We have seen how a plethora of sanctions have been slapped on Russia by the West, how ordinary Russians living in the West are being targeted and Putin is being painted as an evil despot.

The biggest challenge for Bharat has been to walk a fine line diplomatically, as it doesn’t want to be drawn into either camp and is chiefly concerned with maintaining peace and focusing on global economic recovery from the pandemic. It has advised Ukraine, Russia and other stakeholders like NATO to hold dialogue to immediately end the conflict and work out a solution that respects legitimate security concerns of all parties.

However, the USA and other Western nations strongly want Bharat to condemn the Russian aggression, whereas Russia expects Bharat to take a neutral stance at least. Till now Bharat has abstained on U.N. resolutions that condemned Russia or called on it to end the military operation in Ukraine immediately and unconditionally.

West is putting every effort to pressurize Bharat

Over the last few weeks, the western countries are trying their best to influence Bharat to join their tirade against Russia. If you observe closely, you will find how several governments, intellectuals, foreign policy experts, think tanks, media houses, and social media influencers are trying to portray as if Bharat is committing a grave mistake by taking a neutral stance on this issue.

Sometimes they are pleading Bharat, sometimes their tone is hysterical or threatening, but the sole objective is to pressurize Bharat to condemn Russia. A few days back, the heads of the European Union mission met in Delhi in a show of solidarity for Ukraine. Don’t you think it was a tactical move to put some pressure on our Government? Otherwise, there are close to 200 nations in the world, and such a meeting of EU diplomats could have taken place anywhere.

So far, our government has refused to buckle under their pressure. Bharat is rightful in its approach, as it can’t spoil the relations with its long-time ally and largest defense and technology supplier to make the western world happy. The other reason is the lack of merit in western countries’ logic of boycotting Russia.

They are blatantly displaying sheer hypocrisy in dealing with Bharat. On the one hand, they are pushing us to take a tough stance against Russia, but they themselves are weighing their benefits before slapping any sanctions on Russia.

The USA bans Russian energy imports but excludes Uranium

US President Joe Biden has announced a ban on imports of Russian oil, gas, and other energy products. However, he has cleverly excluded the imports of uranium for their nuclear power plants. The US nuclear power industry heavily relies on Russia for the import of roughly half of its uranium requirements to power up its nuclear power plants.

The energy industry is strongly lobbying the US government to continue to allow uranium imports from Russia despite its so-called invasion of Ukraine. As per Reuters, a US government document shows that sanctions against Russia did not mention uranium at all. Here, it is important to know that Russia’s uranium production is controlled by state-run company Rosatom, and this generates massive revenue for the Russian government. Can we say the American energy industry is in fact financially supporting Russia’s economy?

Why European countries are not banning Russian energy imports?

Well, the USA has put the ban on Russian oil and gas imports, but even US President was not sure about his European allies’ support. While announcing the ban, President Biden made a strange quote:

“We’re moving forward on this ban, understanding that many of our European Allies and partners may not be in a position to join us.

The United States produces far more oil domestically than all of European — all the European countries combined.  In fact, we’re a net exporter of energy.  So we can take this step when others cannot.”

Don’t you think this shows the helplessness of the US President, who is very well aware that his European counterparts are not going to ban oil and gas imports from Russia?

European countries are indeed the biggest collective buyer of Russia’s oil and gas. In 2021, Europe bought about 42 % of Russia’s total oil production. Apart from European countries, China and the USA purchase a large portion of Russian oil and gas products. However, the interesting fact here is that European nations are importing seven times as much Russian oil as the US is doing. European nations are far more dependent on Russian oil imports, especially the Eastern European countries, which are heavily reliant on Russia for their energy needs.

For example, Lithuania gets 83% of its oil imports from Russia, which is followed by Finland (80%), Slovakia (74%), Poland (58%), Hungary (43%), and Estonia (34%). Whereas Germany imports 30%, followed by Norway (25%), Belgium (23%), Turkey (21%), Denmark (15%), and Spain (11%).

What will happen if European Countries ban oil imports from Russia?

As we have seen above, how European nations are dependent on Russia, and we have no inhibition to say that their home heating, electricity, transportation, and several oil-dependent industries could cripple the moment they ban Russian imports. The oil price is already soaring since this conflict has started. Oil was selling for about $90 a barrel before war broke out, and now it has even crossed $120 per barrel.

Several energy analysts have already warned that oil prices could go as high as $160 or even $200 by year end. If that happens, then Europe will face a very painful situation, and they may experience backlash from their own people. For that matter, the entire world will struggle with zooming inflation and an economic crisis in that scenario. That’s the reason why European countries are not in favor of banning Russian imports, and they will keep on importing while showing their displeasure about the ‘invasion’ of Ukraine.

Isn’t it utter hypocrisy to push Bharat?

Well, there can’t be a better word other than ‘Hypocrisy’ for this behavior. Every nation is free to make decisions that should align with its strategic and diplomatic objectives. Bharat is rightfully exercising its right to support or remain neutral on any issue. If European nations are taking care of their interest and energy requirements, then how can they blame Bharat for allegedly supporting Russia?

It’s not just Bharat, but a slew of nations – including long-standing allies of USA like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan – have refused to condemn Russia and have even refused to answer Biden’s calls. Yet, the Western outrage seems to be directed far more at Bharat than any other country, except maybe China.

Some claim that as a member of Quad, Bharat should be especially sensitive to what the other Quad members – USA, Australia, Japan – are saying. But that is a two-way street. When Bharat clashed with China at the Ladakh border last year and banned Chinese tech companies to send a strong message, did our Quad partners reciprocate? As for Pakistan, US still lists it as a ‘Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA)‘. The Quad is an informal partnership with a limited goal of safe-guarding the seaways in Asia and cooperating on common interests. If the US is free to pursue other strategic goals, so are we.

Citizens of Bharat should support the current stance of our government on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and condemn any attempt of Western nations to arm-twist or pressurize Bharat. Such naked double standards are harder to disguise in the digital age, and Bharat today has a government which is more resolute in pursuit of our strategic interests.