Will India continue to buy crude oil from Russia? read here

Moscow has reportedly offered New Delhi crude oil and other commodities at a discount at a time when the Russian economy has been hit hard by sanctions imposed by the US and its allies over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine . Hindustan Times report good. As the West seeks to isolate Putin, US officials acknowledged India’s dependence on Russia for military hardware, but said they would like to see New Delhi distance itself from Moscow.

When asked about reports that India has accepted the Russian offer of crude oil at concessional rates, Bagchi did not rule out the development saying, “India imports most of its oil requirements… That’s why we are always exploring all possibilities in the global energy markets as we are facing imports of our oil requirements from this situation.”

Bagchi further said that Russia has not been a major supplier of oil to India, “On energy imports from Russia – I just want to highlight that many countries are doing this, especially in Europe, and at the moment I I will leave it at that. We are a major oil importer and we are looking at all options at all points, we need energy.”

This comes in the wake of state-run Indian Oil Corporation’s alleged purchase of 3 million barrels of crude, which was offered by Russia at a steep discount to prevailing global rates. European powers such as Germany have faced criticism for continuing to purchase energy from Russia, while other countries have been pressured to reduce oil purchases and economic ties with Russia.

Bagchi also said that India had developed a rupee-ruble mechanism with the erstwhile Soviet Union and according to Russia it was continued. Hindustan Times report good. He said the Indian side would wait for details of the unilateral sanctions imposed by various countries on the Ukraine crisis to “examine their impact on our economic exchanges with Russia”. India is expected to face increasing pressure from Western partners regarding its position in the coming days. On the Ukraine crisis, which includes its stance on the UN not criticizing the Russian aggression, while calling for respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is expected to lift the Ukraine crisis and pressurize India to take a firm position. On Russia when she visits New Delhi from March 30-31 for talks with her counterpart S Jaishankar, people familiar with the matter said.