India's Russian oil imports touch 11-month high in June

India's Russian oil imports rose to an 11-month high in June, further cementing Moscow's continued dominance in New Delhi's oil import basket.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

According to tanker data, Russian crude accounted for a massive 43.2 per cent of India's total oil imports in June, outweighing the next three suppliers — West Asian majors Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates - put together.

This comes at a time when concerns have surfaced in India over a controversial bill in the United States that proposes 500 per cent tariffs on countries that continue to trade with Russia.

India and China are the top importers of Russian crude, and New Delhi is engaging with American lawmakers to voice concerns regarding its energy security and the bill.

In a recent press conference in Washington, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India's concerns and interests on energy have been “made conversant” to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is a key sponsor of the bill.

Jaishankar added that India will “have to cross the bridge when we come to it, if we come to it”. In a recent interview with ABC News, Graham had said that US President Donald Trump encouraged him to advance the bill after the July break of the US Congress.

It is yet to be seen if the bill, which Graham says will equip the US to force Russia to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine, will turn into law in its current form. If that does happen, India will be pushed to cut down oil imports from Russia and increase imports from other suppliers, which could increase the cost of imports.