The United States has expressed concern to India that it is exporting fuel made from Russian crude oil to New York by sea, in violation of economic sanctions.
According to the news agency Reuters, the US Department of Treasury has informed India that an Indian ship picked up oil from a Russian tanker at sea and took it to the port of Gujarat on the west coast, where the oil was cleaned and sent onward.
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Michael Petra said that the refined oil was sent to the US state of New York by the same ship.The US says that India tried to hide the fact that the oil was actually imported from Russia.
It should be noted that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the United States imposed sanctions on Moscow under which energy products produced in Russia, including crude oil, fuel, coal and gas, cannot be exported to the United States.
When the American Embassy in Delhi was questioned, they said that they could not immediately comment on the whole matter.
India has not yet endorsed the economic sanctions imposed by the US on Russia, nor has it openly condemned the attack on Ukraine.
Deputy Governor Michael Petra added that he had been told that Russian crude oil had been processed into distillate, which is actually used to make plastics.
However, the governor did not name the ship carrying the Russian oil and did not mention the refinery.
India, the third largest oil importer and consumer, has bought oil from Russia on rare occasions in the past. But since the start of the Ukraine war, Indian refineries have started buying oil from Russia at lower prices.