Russia calls on India to certify diamonds in order to thwart the G7 ban.

Speaking at the nation seminar at the tenth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) on Thursday, Alipov emphasized that a conversation subject at business meetings with Indian enterprises has been “the current challenges in the diamond industry because of the sanctions against Russia".Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov has encouraged the nation to shift to become a “rule-maker” in the area of diamond certification. The statement was made while sanctions on Russian-mined diamonds are still in place due to the conflict in Ukraine.Speaking on Thursday at the country seminar of the tenth Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), Alipov noted that "the current difficulties in the diamond industry because of the sanctions against Russia" have been a common topic of discussion in commercial meetings with Indian enterprises.NEW DELHI, December 20. /TASS/. India requested that the Group of Seven (G7) nations delay the implementation of the ban on Russian diamonds due to unclear origin tracing regulations, according to sources cited by the Reuters news agency.

"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," a source told Reuters.India has voiced opposition to a new raw diamond certification and monitoring system. According to a different source who spoke with Reuters, it would be necessary to provide information about Indian plants, some of which might be private. The G7 nations had earlier declared that as of January 1, 2024, they will not import Russian diamonds.According to Alipov, the "core destination" for Russian mining company Alrosa's raw diamond shipments was the state of Gujarat. He expressed optimism that the opening of the Surat Diamond Bourse by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month—dubbed the largest office space in the world—would contribute to the "deepening" of bilateral collaboration in the diamond trade.According to him, the INSTC offers a "promising route" that connects India with Europe via Central Asia and Iran. According to Alipov, Gujarat, which is home to the biggest port in India, Mundra, is set to play a big role in the INSTC.