Germany mulls dropping India from G7 summit over Russian ‘links’
Even as India refuses to crumble to international pressure to openly condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces the risk of being struck off the list of invitees to the Group of Seven summit hosted by Germany in June.
Speaking to Bloomberg, people privy to the matter, said while India’s name figured in the initial guest list that was drawn up before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is now under consideration. Other countries whose leaders would be invited as guests are South Africa, Senegal and Indonesia.
India which is heavily reliant on Russian weapons, has maintained a neutral stand on the invasion of Ukraine. On February 24, just after Russia launched a military assault against Ukraine, India abstained from a United Nations vote to suspend the communist country from the UN Human Rights Council. New Delhi has also kept itself from joining western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia. India has also faced considerable criticism for buying oil from Russia at a discounted price in the middle of the war.
According to German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit, Berlin is still finalising its guest list for the conclave and would reveal it as soon as it is completed.
“The chancellor has repeatedly made clear that he would like to see as many international partners as possible joining the sanctions,” Bloomberg quoted Hebestreit as saying.
Interestingly, a week ago, Germany itself was at the receiving end of criticisms, especially from Ukraine and Poland, for its dependence on Russian energy imports. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said that his government cannot afford to impose an immediate embargo on Russian natural gas and oil as its car companies are dependent on these imports. Germany’s economy and energy minister, however, had promised that the government is pursuing strategies to reduce Germany’s dependence on Russian gas, coal and oil.
G7 countries including Germany have imposed sanctions against Russia, with some even helping Ukraine with weapons and have sought the help of other countries to put restrictions on trade pacts and investments in Russia.
India has joined many countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia in refusing to respond to the calls to boycott Russia.
With reports indicating a rise in oil imports from Russia by India since February 2022, New Delhi has made it clear that it will continue to buy Russian oil. Responding to US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken’s request to India not to buy additional Russian oil, at the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue in Washington, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India’s total fuel purchase for the month is less than what Europe buys in an afternoon.
“If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe, which probably – we do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security, but I suspect looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon,” Jaishankar said.
Reports said that India also plans to boost exports to Russia by an additional $2 billion and the two countries are working out a payment system in local currencies.
People in the German government told Bloomberg that the chancellor’s office is aware of the matter and German officials have been in contact with their counterparts in India since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
