India's Energy Decisions and the Russia Oil Dynamic

Dr S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, he was talking about Russia oil on Friday. He defended India’s buying of it, pointing out some kind of contradiction in how Europe was criticizing New Delhi's energy policy.
This happened while he was at the Kultaranta Talks in Finland, chatting about "Emerging Powers and the New Geopolitical Competition." And naturally, people asked him things. They wanted to know if India was somehow too sympathetic to Russia. Too willing to just buy oil from them.
He gave an explanation, sort of tracing the "moral ambiguity" involved with buying that Russian crude. He brought up something about weapons. Europe sold arms, and those ended up being used against India later on. But no Indian weapon has ever been used to attack a European country. It's a weird point he made there.
“No European country has been attacked with Indian weapons,” Jaishankar said during that discussion. “I wish I could say that for Europe weapons vis-a-vis India.” A pause there felt deliberate.
When pressed for more detail, he just went back to the practical side of things. He talked about how India actually buys oil. It’s based on cost and availability. That's where things got murky. Russian crude became an attractive option in 2022. Why? Because European countries were starting to lean more towards buying from India’s traditional Middle Eastern suppliers.
He explained the context of that shift. “I buy oil based on cost and availability,” he noted. “So at that time, much of the available oil was Russian because Europeans were essentially looking at the Middle East for supplies, which is where we usually get it. So circumstances pushed us in a certain direction.” It sounded less like policy and more like describing what actually happened on the ground.
Then there was the US factor creeping in. Jaishankar brought up that the United States had encouraged India to buy Russian oil back then. The goal, he said, was just to stabilize global energy markets. Prevent prices from shooting up too fast.
“At that time,” he stated plainly, “the US directly asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilize the oil market. We buy oil based on cost and availability.” It wasn't a grand strategic move; it was about immediate necessity then.
The message coming across is clear, if you follow it India’s energy decisions are all about national interest, pure energy security. Russia still remains India’s biggest oil supplier. But the dynamic shifted with gas. The US is now its largest natural gas supplier. That's another layer to the whole situation.
Despite all the talk from the West, India just defended its choices. They kept importing that discounted Russian crude. Because for them, energy security and keeping costs manageable were still the main priorities, even when Moscow was putting sanctions on. It’s a balancing act, you know? A very messy one.
Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board
Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.
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