Germany will not make any “public criticism” of India’s decision to increase its import of Russian oil, German Ambassador Walter Lindner said on Wednesday, indicating that despite their own plans to cut oil dependency on Russia by 90% by the end of 2022, European countries understand that the Indian position on the war in Ukraine is unlikely to change.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Germany to attend the G-7 summit of industrialised nations on May 26-28, where India is among the special invitees, Mr. Lindner said while the economic impact of the war would dominate the discussions, India’s stand on buying oil or banning wheat exports would not.
“India’s voting pattern [abstentions at the UN], and these kinds of things, that’s not in the centre of discussions anymore. We know now why is India doing this, and we know what’s the thinking behind it. On the wheat and oil and so on, we have discussed these and we understand quite a large part of of where India stands,” he told The Hindu during an interview after addressing his last press conference as German envoy to India.
