India publicly rebuked NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after he warned that countries continuing to purchase Russian energy could face secondary tariffs of as much as 100 percent. Rutte’s remarks, delivered in Washington this week, singled out Brazil, China and India and urged their leaders to press President Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks with Ukraine or risk punitive trade measures. Responding at a regular media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said "securing the energy needs of our people is an overriding priority" and cautioned Western governments against "any double standards" in assessing trade with Moscow. He added that India would remain guided by market offerings and prevailing global circumstances. Oil and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri echoed the stance, telling an industry forum that there is "plenty of oil" on world markets and that India has diversified its supplier base to about 40 countries, up from 27 before the Ukraine war. "If something happens, we will deal with it," Puri said when asked about the prospect of sanctions disrupting Russian supplies. India’s crude purchases from Russia surged to roughly $56 billion in the last fiscal year as refiners snapped up discounted cargoes. Officials argue the trade has helped temper global prices while shielding the domestic economy from inflation. New Delhi, which has avoided joining Western sanctions on Moscow, maintains that any resolution to the conflict must come through diplomacy rather than economic coercion.