US trade rep Jamieson Greer says India ‘can and should diversify’ from Russian oil — Read complete argument

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer believes that India “can and should” diversify from its trade relationship with Russia, adding that the process has already begun, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

Addressing the Economic Club of New York last week, Greer expressed optimism that India's purchase of Russian oil is not “some bedrock part” of the economy and increased in volumes only after the Ukraine war in 2022.

He was also of the opinion that trade tensions between the US and India will be resolved, amid Donald Trump's hiked tariffs. He added that America is not looking to dictate relationships between other sovereign nations.

Here's why Jamieson Greer thinks India should move away from Russian oil

Stating that India's oil purchases from Russia jumped in 2022, Greer said, “This is something we believe they can do and should do and frankly I can already see them starting to diversify. I think they get it.”

Acknowledging India's “strong relations” with Russia, he added, “Obviously they are a sovereign country. They are going to control their decisions. President Trump is focused on this quite discrete issue of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. We’re not trying to dictate to other countries who they can have relations with and who they can’t. But we are trying to make sure that Vladimir Putin feels as much pressure as possible.”

India-US trade to get back on track?

Notably, Greer is among the top Trump administration officials who met with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal at the UN General Assembly in September, for trade talks and to discuss the 50 per cent tariffs.

A senior state department official told HT that Greer and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “closely engaging” with India to cut Russian energy purchases. Other US officials told the publication they expect a resolution “in the coming weeks”.

Notably, Donald Trump in April imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India and added another 25 per cent at August-end as “punishment” for buying Russian crude and “financing” the war in Ukraine. India is among the most heavily tariffed nations under Trump's new trade policy.