India wants no sanctions against Russian diamonds

India asked the G7 states to postpone the ban on Russian diamonds because the rules for tracking them are unclear.

"A three- to four-month time frame for introducing restrictions on indirect imports from Russia is not practical because the rules for tracking the origin of gemstones are unclear,” a source told Reuters.

India also objects to a new mechanism for testing and certifying rough diamonds. It may require the sharing of data on Indian businesses, some of which may be sensitive, another source noted.

Western states have been announcing their intentions to introduce a ban on the import of Russian diamonds for quite some time. It was recently announced that the ban would be introduced from January 1, 2024.

The G7 will also introduce a phased ban on the import of Russian diamonds from third countries. A "robust verification and certification mechanism” is to be implemented for rough diamonds by September 1 will create a for rough diamonds.

The new package of EU sanctions also includes a ban on imports of jewellery diamonds from Russia.

India is one of the world leaders in the jewellery industry where it employs more than a million people. Indian companies purchase significant volumes of diamonds from Russia.

It is worth noting that De Beers CEO Al Cook said in an interview with The Financial Times that it would be almost impossible to distinguish a Russian diamond at customs.

"With the best will in the world, the average customs agent will not be able to look at one diamond and another diamond and go, 'That's the Russian one,'" Al Cook said commenting on the most recent package of EU sanctions.