India will continue to import cheap Russian oil despite public threats from US President Donald Trump. As informs The New York Times quoting Indian government officials, New Delhi’s policy on this matter remains unchanged — the government has not given any indication of limiting or stopping supplies from Russia.
Earlier, Trump threatened India with possible sanctions if it does not stop importing Russian raw materials. During a recent briefing, he stated:
“I heard that India will no longer buy oil from Russia. I don’t know if this is true. But it would be a good step.”
However, the very next day, Indian officials publicly denied this information.
Despite loud statements, Trump did not specify what kind of punishments he was talking about. According to analysts, such rhetoric may be part of the tactical pressure within the negotiations on a new bilateral trade agreement between the US and India. It should be noted that China and Turkey, which also import large volumes of Russian oil, have not received such threats from Washington.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, India dramatically increased its purchases of Russian oil. If by 2022 its share was less than one percent of total imports, now it exceeds one third. India imports more than 2 million barrels of oil every day, second only to China.
Despite international pressure, New Delhi has convinced its Western partners that buying Russian oil at a capped price set by the G7 and the EU helps curb global prices while cutting Russia’s revenues. Last year, US Treasury officials who visited India openly admitted that this formula works.
“India bought Russian oil because someone had to – but at a low price. This is not a violation. It was part of our policy.” – declared the then American ambassador in New Delhi, Eric Garcetti.
Although India has recently been increasing purchases from alternative sources, including the US and the UAE, Russian oil remains economically viable. As experts note, for New Delhi this issue is extremely pragmatic: cheap raw materials are a temporary benefit. And once that advantage is gone, India will easily reverse course.
