Harsh Vardhan Shringla: US pressured India on Russian oil imports
India faced pressure from the US to reduce its Russian oil imports, according to former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
He shared that Russian oil is crucial for India's energy needs and warned that stopping these imports could cause an energy crunch at home and drive up global prices.
Despite this, India's oil minister recently said there is no US pressure right now.
India increases Middle East oil imports
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, India started buying more discounted Russian oil, even though it had previously followed US requests to cut back on Iranian and Venezuelan supplies.
Now, things are shifting again: as of September 2026, over half of India's imported oil comes from the Middle East (54%), while Russia's share has dropped to about a third (33.5%).
This shows India is trying to keep its options open and balance global expectations with its own energy needs.