New Delhi: In January, as US tariff relief on Indian exports was being negotiated, New Delhi slashed discounted Russian crude purchases. Yet two months on, amid US-Israel’s war against Iran choking Gulf lanes, Delhi and Moscow are rekindling energy bonds.
India and Russia agreed to revive energy cooperation, paving the way for direct Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales to India — first since the Ukraine war. If pursued, the sanctions-risking deal could conclude in weeks, Reuters reported.
Unreported talks, spurred by post-attack price surges, produced a “verbal agreement” at a March 19 Delhi meeting between Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Indian Petroleum and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
They also committed to ramping crude sales, potentially doubling from January levels to 40% of India’s imports within a month, sources said.
The world’s third-largest oil importer snapped up $44 billion in Russian crude last year, bolstering Moscow’s war chest and irking Trump.
Delhi directed importers to resume Russian LNG buys and requested a US sanctions waiver, sources said.
Asked about this matter on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the government’s energy policy was based on its need to meet the requirements of 1.4 billion people, market dynamics and global conditions. Officials confirmed unsanctioned Russian LPG imports for cooking.
Russia’s Energy ministry and US Treasury declined comment.
“India chose the course that best served its national interests, anchored in a long-standing and trusted partnership with Russia,” said Ajai Malhotra, India’s former ambassador to Moscow.
Delhi should now “demand exemptions or accommodations as a normal part of negotiation between strategic partners,” he added, referring to Washington.
Hit hard twice by US actions — August’s 50% tariffs (struck down by Supreme Court) and the February 28 assault on Iran — India grapples with Hormuz disruptions, with half its oil and LNG halted, fueling gas shortage.
State refiners loaded up on Russian crude hours before the US announced a March 5 waiver, as oil prices kept climbing; Russia-Asia routes, dodging the Gulf, have driven sharp regional demand increases.
Executives from state grid firm Rosseti, in Delhi for an industry summit this month, proposed transmission projects in India’s mountainous and remote areas. St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport is also scouting more direct flights with Indian hubs.
Chief Kremlin diplomat Sergei Lavrov told an Indo-Russian conference this week that 96% of bilateral trade now uses rupees and roubles. “The time-tested Russian-Indian friendship serves as an example of how interstate relations should and can be built – based on equality, mutual trust and respect, and consideration of each other’s interests.”
At a Mumbai conference in March, a top executive at Russian lender Sberbank’s Indian branch said rupee-rouble transactions of up to $1 billion can now process in as little as a day — or more than twice as fast as just a few years ago.
