If Narendra Modi surrendered to President Trump, how tough would it be to wean his country from Russia’s discounted supply?

According to trade data shared with Reuters, India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1 per cent from one year ago. In total, it imported Russian oil worth about £38bn in the financial year ending March 2025.

Doval’s meetings in Moscow coincided with US President Donald Trump issuing an executive order that imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods as a penalty for buying Russian oil.