Why can India buy oil from Russia but still be friends with the US?

Not only has India refused to condemn Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, but New Delhi's push to buy discounted Russian oil is also running counter to Western sanctions aimed at crippling the Kremlin's financial system, analysts say.

The White House even said that India was "volatile" and expressed "disappointment" towards New Delhi.

However, the West has since changed its tune. The online meeting between US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month was filled with praise and diplomatic rhetoric about the “deep ties between the two peoples” and “shared values” between the two sides.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting at the BRICS Summit in Benaulim, India in 2016. Photo: Getty

Then, on April 22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to New Delhi to discuss trade relations, while also highlighting “differences” regarding Russia.

However, India's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict remains unchanged.

According to Reuters, India is still buying cheap Russian oil. In fact, in the first months of 2022, New Delhi bought almost as much Russian oil as it did in all of 2021, and the South Asian country has also remained silent on Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. Most recently, on April 7, India abstained from the UN session on suspending Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council.

With India playing a key role in US efforts to counter China, which Washington sees as a greater threat than Russia, the West is unlikely to be tough on New Delhi.

Mr. Harsh V. Pant, professor of international relations at King's College London, assessed: The US realized that it needed to see India as a "new partner to be courted".

Why is India important to the US?

Both India and the US are concerned about China. Professor Pant, who is currently head of the Strategic Studies Program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, said that part of the US plan to counter the threat from China is to bring India more actively into the Quad grouping (along with the US, Japan and Australia), especially in the security field.

Meanwhile, India has its own concerns about China. The two countries have been engaged in a military conflict along their Himalayan border for the past few years. Notably, India relies heavily on Russian weapons and military hardware to equip its forces, including those in the Himalayas.

The shared concern about China was evident after President Biden and Prime Minister Modi met virtually, with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warning that China was seeking to “reshape the region and the international system” and saying the US and India had “discovered new opportunities to expand the reach of our militaries.”

It is a sign that despite significant disagreements over Ukraine, the two countries still have a “deep understanding of each other’s positions,” said Manoj Kewalramani, a China researcher at the Takshashila Institute in India.

These concerns explain why the US has been critical of China’s stance on Russia’s campaign in Ukraine, but “silent” towards India.

On the surface, India and China appear to have similar views on the war in Ukraine. Both have positioned themselves as neutral rather than vocally opposing it. Both have called for peace and have not criticized Russia’s campaign. Both have a strategic relationship with Russia that they would prefer not to damage.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin declared in February that their relationship had “no limits”, while by some estimates India buys more than 50% of its military equipment needs from Russia.

These similarities are only superficial, though. In reality, there are “huge differences,” according to Mr. Kewalramani.

Mr. Kewalramani assessed that China has been vocal in criticizing Western sanctions and has repeatedly blamed the US and NATO for the current conflict, similar to Russia's view that NATO caused the crisis by expanding eastward.

Meanwhile, India has avoided criticizing NATO and has played down its differences with the United States. India’s stance has also changed slightly as the conflict has dragged on.

Indian Prime Minister Modi has spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while Chinese leaders have yet to do so, according to Li Mingjiang, associate professor of international relations at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Complicated relationship

The US may also recognise that India's relationship with Russia has historically followed a very different path than its relationship with the West.

US Secretary of State Blinken stressed that India's relationship with Russia has "developed over decades, at a time when the US cannot be India's partner".

That seems to be a reference to the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, when India had an official non-aligned stance. However, India began to lean towards the Soviet Union in the 1970s when the US provided military and financial support to neighboring Pakistan.

It was also at this time that Russia began supplying weapons to India and India remains heavily dependent on Russia for military equipment to this day.

In 2018, India signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to buy air defense missile systems, despite the deal potentially exposing India to sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

India “drawn in by all sides”

All this puts India in a position where it is being “wooed” by all sides, Mr. Pant said.

Russia still wants to sell discounted crude oil to India. During his recent visit to India, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appreciated India’s “one-sided” approach to the conflict in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the West is also keen to woo India. India’s relationship with the US has grown closer since Modi was elected in 2014. Annual trade between India and the US is more than $110 billion, while India’s trade with Russia is only about $8 billion. In recent years, India has also become a major buyer of US military equipment.

However, there was some uncertainty in President Biden’s meeting with Prime Minister Modi. The US President urged the Indian leader not to increase his use of Russian oil, while offering to help New Delhi buy oil from elsewhere./.