India Will Continue to Buy Russian Oil Despite G7 Price Cap

Image copyright: Associated Press

The Facts

  • India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar signaled on Monday that the country will put its energy needs above pressure from Western governments, and continue to buy oil from Russia.

  • Jaishankar also provided Moscow with a list of products available for trade with India in order to narrow the trade deficit between the countries. Russia is India’s largest supplier of oil and India is looking to rebalance its trade, while Moscow is suffering from acute shortages of materials amid Western sanctions.


The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

India continues to sit on the fence and tacitly support Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. As other countries look to reduce the amount of oil they buy from Russia, India has increased its imports ten-fold since Putin’s invasion. India is putting profit above a principled and necessary show of opposition to Putin's attempted imperialist expansion.

Establishment-critical narrative

India is a sovereign nation that will continue to put its energy needs ahead of G7 demands. While India respects other countries’ decisions to implement sanctions, it must work to provide the necessary energy to its people. New Delhi will not bend its knee to hypocritical countries that import more Russian oil than India does.


Metaculus Prediction


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO