India, July 18 -- The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday responded to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) chief Mark Rutte's remarks on possible sanctions over India's trade with Russia, as it cautioned against "double standards".

At the weekly media briefing in Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have seen reports on the subject and are closely following the developments. Let me reiterate that securing the energy needs of our people is understandably an overriding priority for us."

Jaiswal warned of double standards regarding the matter.

Rutte had warned on Wednesday that countries such as Brazil, China, and India could be hit very hard by secondary sanctions if they continued to do business with Russia.

He ...