India has tripled its imports from Russia since the beginning of the year largely due to the purchase of cheap oil, despite Western criticism of the move as the world's largest democracy tries to balance its energy needs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting.
According to the Times of India, the total value of India's imports from Russia has risen to $8.6 billion, up from just $2.5 billion a year ago.
As the West moved to ban Russian oil, India imported more than three times as much crude oil from Russia as it did in March and February.
India imported 774,000 metric tons offertilizer from Russia in the quarter ending in June 2022, more than 20% of its total import, according to the minister.
Moscow's decision to steeply undercut international prices for commodities it is banned from selling to the west drove India's decision to purchase from Russia.
Russia has offered some relief to India, the world's third largest importer of oil, due to the country's high inflation.
As the war in Ukraine has progressed, India has been careful not to pick sides as it enjoys historic close ties with Russia and the United States.
Europe is dependent on Russian gas imports and India has defended its decision to buy Russian oil. The European Union and other countries in Europe continue to buy far larger quantities when inflation is at an all-time high. The purchase of India by the West is not in violation of any sanctions.
India has pointed to the European Union's use of Russian energy as a counterargument to the criticism of its purchases. In May the EU issued its sixth sanctions package against Russia which promised to cut almost 90 percent of Russian oil imports by the end of the year. The EU agreed to cut its natural gas usage by 15% after Russia slashed its supply.
Russia is trying to jump start the International North-South Transport Corridor project as it faces a lot of sanctions. The INSTC is a network of roads, railways, and shipping routes that connect India and Russia. The project, which has been talked about in some form or the other since the year 2000 conducted its first trial last month as two containers carrying wood laminate sheets were sent from St. The corridor may allow Russia and Iran to circumvent European trade routes, but it will face strong opposition from the US and Europe.
New Delhi has offered only guarded comments calling for restraint and dialog between the two countries since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. India relies heavily on Russian-made military hardware in its diplomacy. When Putin visited India in December of last year, New Delhi immediately hailed the relationship. Several key weapons systems have been imported by India into the United States in the past few years. The United States and India see their partnership as a way to counterbalance China. India along with the U.S., Australia and Japan have formed a security partnership known as the Quad which Beijing has labeled derisively as "Indo- Pacific NATO." The partnership with the U.S. has meant that India has not had to worry about repercussions for its purchases of Russian goods. The Group of Seven Nations, led by the U.S., said last month that they were talking to India and other countries buying Russian oil to establish a price cap mechanism to prevent Moscow from benefiting from the energy crisis.
There is a foreign policy that India cannot quit Russian oil.
There is a reason why India is trying to sit on the fence in the conflict.
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