India Calls for Delay on G7 Sanctions
December 21, 23
(IDEX Online) - India is reported to be calling on the G7 to delay the introduction of sanctions on Russian diamonds, the first of which are due to take effect from 1 January 2024.
It is particularly concerned about restrictions on diamonds that are cut and polished outside Russia - mostly in India - that will come into force on 1 March.
It says they will prove impractical to implement in such a tight timeframe.
"The timeline to start restrictions on indirect imports from Russia in three-four months is impractical, as the rules on how the origin for a gem will be traced are not clear," an unnamed source told Reuters.
The G7 nations (including the EU) jointly account for 70 per cent of retail diamond purchases and announced long-awaited sanctions earlier this week.
The Indian government has said previously that the G7 diamond sanctions only cover stones over one carat and will therefore cause minimum disruption to its industry.
The vast majority of stones cut and polished in Surat and other diamond hubs are well under the 1.0-cts threshold.
"We should be able to export our diamonds without disturbing the proposed sanctions on Russia," said the Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal.
Pic shows rough sorting, courtesy Alrosa