India is playing dumb in front of the US, giving the US three options: you tell me, whom should I buy from?
On September 25, India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, led a high-level delegation to conduct trade negotiations with the US. Sources revealed that Indian officials clearly told the US side during the negotiations that if the US really wanted India to reduce its oil purchases from Russia, it must allow Indian refineries to import from Iran or Venezuela instead.
In other words, India, in front of the Americans, has given three options: either I continue to buy Russian oil, or you open up Iran, or you open up Venezuela.
This is equivalent to pushing the US to the forefront. Because the US has imposed sanctions on all three countries, and India precisely seized on this point.
Russian oil is the current main source, which is cheap, and Indian refineries are making a fortune; Iran and Venezuela are also forced to sell at low prices due to sanctions, and if these two channels can be opened, India can maintain its cost advantage as well.
But the problem is that the US will not easily relax its restrictions on Iran and Venezuela.
Therefore, the Indians are essentially pretending to be ignorant, using an unacceptably condition to turn down the US demands.
India knows the real purpose of the US is to promote its own crude oil and liquefied natural gas, so that India buys more American goods.
But American oil is more expensive and farther away, and India is completely unwilling to bear such additional costs.
So, it openly says: either don't pressure me, or offer real compensation.
Of course, it's unlikely to get away with pretending to be ignorant. In the end, it all comes down to one's own hard power. With that power, the US will back down on its own. Without that power, no matter how much you say, it's all in vain.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844307505161292/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.