Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Russia is 'unreliable', US warns India; no 'red line' for oil imports

Russia is 'unreliable', US warns India; no 'red line' for oil imports

THE US will not set any "red line" for India on its energy imports from Russia but does not want to see a "rapid acceleration" in purchases, a top US official said during a visit to New Delhi.

However, Daleep Singh, Washington's chief sanctions strategist, was quoted by local media during the visit as saying that India could not rely on Russia if there was another clash with China.


Lured by steep discounts following Western sanctions on Russian entities, India has bought at least 13 million barrels of Russian crude oil since the country invaded Ukraine in late February. That compared with some 16 million barrels for the whole of last year, data shows.

"Friends don't set red lines," Singh told reporters, adding however that its partners in Europe and Asia had been urged to cut their reliance on "an unreliable energy supplier".

Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov began meetings with India's leaders in New Delhi on Friday (1) after seeing his Chinese counterpart earlier in the week, as Moscow tries to keep the Asian powers on its side amid Western sanctions.

Russia has long been India's biggest supplier of defence equipment, despite growing purchases from the US in the past decade. Defence analysts say Russian supplies are more cost-competitive and vital for India as it faces a superior Chinese military.

Singh said the US was ready to help India diversify its energy and defence supplies.

"We stand ready to help India diversify its energy resources, much like is the case for defence resources over a period of time. But there is no prohibition at present on energy imports from Russia," he said.

"What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India's imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime."

He also said the US would not like to see its allies helping resurrect the rouble, which nosedived immediately after the war began but has recovered in recent days.

Sergei Lavrov Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

'Russia, a friendly nation'

"We would not like to see mechanisms that are designed to prop up the rouble or to undermine the dollar-based financial system, or to circumvent our financial sanctions," he said.

Reports said that India and Russia are trying to work out a rupee-rouble payments mechanism to maintain trade between the countries.

India and China count Russia as a friendly nation and neither has condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine. While India has abstained from voting on UN resolutions on the War, China has in some cases sided with Moscow.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi said after a meeting with Lavrov on Wednesday (30) that Moscow and Beijing were "more determined" to develop bilateral ties and boost cooperation. They also condemned the Western sanctions on Russia.

Singh said the growing Russia-China bonhomie had consequences for India.

"Russia is going to be the junior partner in this relationship with China. And the more leverage that China gains over Russia, the less favourable that is for India," he said.

Delhi shares Western alarm over Beijing's assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region, with 20 Indian and four Chinese troops killed in a brawl on their disputed Himalayan border in 2020.

Russia has written to India's defence ministry requesting clearance of payments worth $1.3 billion that have been halted since last month, according to the local Economic Times newspaper.

Singh said the US was ready to help India — the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer — diversify its energy and defence supplies.

India is part of the so-called Quad alliance with the US, Japan and Australia — seen as a bulwark against China.

After the 2020 clash on the China border, India rushed large amounts of military hardware to the frontier, most of it Russian-origin.

(Agencies)

More For You

Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia to strengthen strategic ties

Prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (22)

Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia to strengthen strategic ties

INDIA’S prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah on Tuesday (22) for his third visit as prime minister to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

The trip came a day after Modi held talks with US vice-president JD Vance in India, with New Delhi looking to seal a trade deal with Washington and stave off punishing tariffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veterans urge nation to 'unite and remember' in VE Day letter

Samina Mahroof, a cutter at the JW Plant Flag Company works on flag orders ahead of the VE Day 80th anniversary on March 18, 2025 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Veterans urge nation to 'unite and remember' in VE Day letter

TEN surviving Second World War veterans, including three from the British Indian Army, have written an open letter urging people across the UK to come together and remember the sacrifices made during the war.

Launched on Wednesday (23) by the /Together Coalition, the letter is part of a wider campaign marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, which falls on May 5.

Keep ReadingShow less
Vinay Narwal

Lieutenant Vinay Narwal of the Indian Navy, 26, from Haryana, was among those killed in the attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Photo: X/@indiannavy

Navy officer on honeymoon, grandfather vacationing with grandkids among 26 killed in Kashmir attack

LIEUTENANT Vinay Narwal of the Indian Navy had been married just six days earlier. He was on his honeymoon in Pahalgam when he was shot in the head by a terrorist while eating bhelpuri with his wife.

Manjunatha, a tourist from Karnataka, was asked if he was Hindu or Muslim before being shot dead.

Keep ReadingShow less
Who is Saifullah Kasuri, the  mastermind behind Pahalgam attack?

Saifullah Kasuri

Who is Saifullah Kasuri, the  mastermind behind Pahalgam attack?

THE tourist town of Pahalgam in India's Jammu and Kashmir witnessed one of the worst terror attacks in the region on Tuesday (22) since the abrogation of Article 370. A group of heavily armed terrorists opened fire on unsuspecting tourists at Baisaran meadow, killing 26 people and injuring many more.

The attack sent shockwaves across the country and drew condemnation from leaders both in India and abroad. Within hours, a group known as The Resistance Front (TRF), widely believed to be a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hertfordshire Police treat vandalism of Muslim graves as Islamophobic hate crime

The damage to plaques at Carpenders Park Cemetery has sparked outrage in the Muslim community

Hertfordshire Police treat vandalism of Muslim graves as Islamophobic hate crime

Grant Williams

HERTFORDSHIRE Police have said they are “confident” the desecration of Muslim graves at a cemetery in north London “was a religiously motivated act”.

The leader of the council that owns the cemetery visited the site last week to speak to grieving families following the horrific incident.

Keep ReadingShow less