Russia is India’s top oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels per day to India in September, roughly one-third of the country’s oil imports. For months, Modi resisted US pressure, with Indian officials defending the purchases as vital to national energy security.
While imports from other producers would likely cost India more, lower oil prices would temper the impact. Benchmark Brent crude futures hit a five-month low on Wednesday on concerns about a growing surplus in the market.
A move by India to stop imports would signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s top energy customers and could reshape the calculus for other nations still importing Russian crude. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation on Russia, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions.
The announcement comes just days after Trump’s new pick for Indian ambassador, Sergio Gor, met with Modi. The two discussed defence, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Gor, a close confidant of Trump, was widely seen as a positive move for the US-India bilateral relationship.
During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not “immediately” halt shipments, calling it “a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon”.
Despite his push on India, Trump has largely avoided placing similar pressure on China. The US trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, with Trump reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding a halt to Chinese energy imports from Russia.
Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade agreement. He followed up with an additional 25 per cent because of the country’s purchases of Russian oil.
India chafed at the move because no other top purchasers of Russian oil, like China or Turkey, were hit with similar tariffs.
Â
Source: CNA
