On Saturday, Indian officials stated that they will continue to purchase cheap oil from Russia despite the threat of sanctions from US President Donald Trump.
As reported by The New York Times, there is a growing sense in India that its leaders should not allow increasingly volatile American politics to dictate their choices regarding vital energy supplies for the country's 1.4 billion population.
Last week, Trump stated that he would impose punitive sanctions on India in addition to 25-percent tariffs if the country does not cease importing Russian crude oil.
“Our bilateral relations with various countries have their own merits and should not be viewed through the prism of a third country,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
India sharply increased its purchases of Russian oil following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. Now, Russia accounts for more than a third of India's oil imports, compared to less than one percent before the war. India receives about two million barrels of crude oil per day, making it the second-largest importer of Russian oil after China.
Analysts from Kpler, a company that tracks commodity and maritime shipping data, stated that they noticed a decrease in crude oil imports from Russia to India in July. However, they warned that this coincided with the start of a period when India typically buys less oil due to the monsoon season and scheduled maintenance of refineries.
Photo: AFP