India-Russia discuss crude oil imports

An ambitious government-to-government agreement  business deal between India & Russia is under way according to diplomatic sources. The deal is likely to be inked during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit in October for the annual summit talks with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which aim to enhance India’s trade with Russia from US$ 11 billion at present to US$ 30 billion by 2025.

Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin, opined “We should realise our potential as reliable partners in energy sector. Another area would be the mutual investment cooperation in the energy sector in India and Russia.”

Ever since US terminated exemptions it had granted to India and several other countries to buy oil from Iran, India has been looking for alternate sources of the commodities. About 80% of the oil used by India is imported. While traditionally, Indo-Russian ties were confined to close cooperation in defence and civil nuclear energy sectors, over the last few years, their collaboration has expanded to oil and gas sectors.