India says it’s in talks with Russia about increasing oil imports.

India is in talks with Moscow about rising oil imports from Russia in an effort to maintain spiraling costs in verify, India’s petroleum minister informed Parliament this week. The transfer comes as New Delhi can be striving to protect its relationship with Moscow, its largest provider of weapons, at a time when India faces an aggressive China on its borders.

“I actually have had a dialog with the suitable ranges of the Russian federation,” Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s minister of fuel and petroleum, informed lawmakers on Monday. He mentioned the problems being mentioned included insurance coverage, freight, and cost preparations.

India is dependent upon imports for about 80 % of its oil wants, with 3 % of that coming from Russia. India’s oil and petroleum imports from Russia quantity to just about $1 billion, Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister, mentioned in a press release on Friday.

Reuters reported earlier that Indian officers had been in talks with Russia to import crude oil at a reduced value and that one among India’s essential refineries had purchased hundreds of thousands of barrels from the dealer Vitol to be delivered in Might.

Mr. Novak, after a name with Mr. Puri, mentioned that Moscow was “keen on additional attracting Indian funding to the Russian oil and fuel sector and increasing Russian firms’ gross sales networks in India.”

As a lot of the world has shunned Russia and tightened financial sanctions in opposition to it since its invasion of Ukraine, India has performed a difficult balancing act, concurrently working with Ukraine and its Western allies whereas stopping in need of voting in opposition to Russia in worldwide boards.

India has not supported the penalties. However prospects of the US’ fury if it offers with Russian entities below sanctions however cling over the commerce between New Delhi and Moscow. The comparatively small measurement of their commerce — about $9 billion a yr, lower than one-tenth of Russia’s commerce with its largest buying and selling associate, China — is such that even when India helped Russia evade a number of the sanctions, it might not quantity to sizable aid to Moscow.

On oil, Indian officers appear to be navigating an evolving grey space and drawing on previous expertise of preparations with Moscow the place commerce continued in native currencies. Whereas the US has banned Russian oil imports, the European Union has stopped brief — issuing sanctions in opposition to particular firms with out banning the acquisition of Russian oil.