India Makes A Caveated Pledge To Continue Buying Russian Oil
Russia expects India's imports of its crude to remain at current levels, as Moscow sells oil to India at about a 5% discount.
India pledged — with a caveat — to keep buying Russian oil, a step that would preserve a vital market for Moscow’s barrels.
Purchases will continue “depending on the financial benefit,” Vinay Kumar, India’s ambassador in Moscow, said in an interview with Russia’s Izvestia newspaper. “India buys what is best for itself,” he added.
While it’s not an outright pledge that the South Asian nation will keep Russian oil purchases steady if higher US tariffs kick in next week, it’s the latest example of how souring relations between India and the US have pushed New Delhi closer to Moscow.
India has ramped up oil imports from Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, when Group of Seven nations imposed a $60-per-barrel price cap on Moscow’s crude that aimed to limit the Kremlin’s energy revenue. The Trump administration sees those purchases as helping fund Russia’s war, with the US president threatening to raise India’s tariffs to 50% on Aug. 27, among the highest on any country’s products.
India accounts for 37% of Russia’s oil exports, according to Moscow-based Kasatkin Consulting.
Russia expects India’s imports of its crude to remain at current levels, as Moscow sells oil to India at about a 5% discount, leaving Asia’s third-largest economy with few alternatives, Evgeny Griva, Russia’s deputy trade representative in India, said on Wednesday. India’s state refiners have resumed buying Russian Urals after a brief pause earlier this month.
Moscow will continue to supply crude, petroleum products and coal to India and sees potential to export liquefied natural gas, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said Wednesday at a meeting with Indian officials, including External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Federal Oil Secretary Pankaj Jain.
Jaishankar said the two countries must remove trade bottlenecks and reduce non-tariff barriers to reach the goal of increasing their annual trade by about 50% over the next five years to reach $100 billion. He met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday.
“We have good results in cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, in the supply of Russian oil to the Indian market, and we have a mutual interest in implementing joint projects to extract energy resources,” including in Russia’s Far East and Arctic waters, Lavrov said at a joint press conference. “In general, the economic base of our especially privileged strategic partnership is strengthening steadily and progressively.”
Russia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner, while India is Russia’s second-largest.
