Have alternative sources, says India as US threatens more tariffs on Russia oil

Amid the US threat to impose “secondary sanctions” on Russian crude oil, India on Thursday said it was confident of meeting its energy requirements from alternative sources.

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the world’s third largest oil importer should be able to deal with any problems with Russian imports by seeking supplies from other countries. “India has diversified the sources of supply,” Puri said at an event.

India meets more than 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports, with Russia accounting for 42 per cent (2.08 million barrels per day) of it. The Russian crude is capped at $60 a barrel, lower than the prevailing international rate of $80.

Russia has been India’s main supplier for nearly three years now since 2022 when much of the West shunned Moscow’s crude following its invasion of Ukraine. Russia had then offered steep discounts to attract alternative buyers.

US President Donald Trump had on Tuesday announced 100 per cent secondary tariffs targeting Russian trade partners if Moscow did not resolve its war with Ukraine in 50 days.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also echoed Trump, saying India, Brazil and China could be hit “very hard” by the secondary sanctions if these countries continued to do business with Russia.

At his weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it was the government’s priority to secure the energy needs of its people. He said India would pursue the “best offer available” to meet its needs.

New Delhi also cautioned against “double standards” in the enforcement of sanctions. The “double standards” remark was aimed at NATO as several European countries (that include NATO allies) are expected to continue remaining dependent on Russian gas supplies until 2027. “Isn’t this double-speak... will Europe also face these additional tariffs too,” asked an official.

The US and European nations have accused India and China of buying crude and funding the Russian war machine. For India, stopping Russian crude supply would mean searching for alternative supplies.