Why possible ban on Russian diamonds by G7 matters to India

The Group of Seven bloc and Belgium will send their representatives to India next week to discuss the potential impact of a ban on Russian diamonds on the South Asian country. Earlier sanctions by the US on the gemstones have already hurt the diamond industry in Surat The Group of Seven countries are ready to announce an import ban on Russian diamonds in the coming weeks. Diamond analyst Paul Zimnisky told Reuters that the Russian diamonds cut and polished outside Russia are considered originating from the country that “transformed” them. As per Economic Times, a delegation from Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, India’s leading trade body, met a senior official of the US State Department in July to raise concerns about the impact of America’s sanctions on Russian diamonds on the trade in Surat, which accounts for 80 per cent of the world’s polished diamonds. Zimnisky, the diamond industry analyst based in the New York City area, told NYT in August: “The current US sanctions only covered rough Russian diamonds or those cut and polished inside Russia.