Shringla bats for Russian oil supplies to India

Harsh Vardhan Shringla has defended India’s Russian oil imports, warning that stopping purchases could push up global energy prices and undermine the country’s energy security. The Rajya Sabha MP also flagged uncertainty over US tariffs, Section 301 investigations and potential duties linked to Russian oil sanctions, as India-US trade talks face an impasse. He also outlined conditions for India-China ties.

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP and member of the parliamentary committee on external affairs Harsh Vardhan Shringla has emphasised the need for Russian oil supplies in the interests of India’s 1.4 billion people and to keep global energy prices under control.

Speaking alongside former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd at a conversation at the Asia Policy Society Institute this week, former foreign secretary Shringla referred to the various US sanctions India had faced over its energy imports.

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Responding to a question from Rudd on the status of India-US trade talks, Shringla said they appeared to have reached an impasse, with US trade representative Jamieson Greer saying a conclusion was not imminent and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman observing that the talks had hit a plateau.

Shringla said the issue appeared to be uncertainty over the actual tariffs India would face.

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Referring to Rudd’s comment about a Damocles’ sword, Shringla said several such swords were hanging over India, including at least two ongoing Section 301 investigations—into forced labour and overcapacity—and the threat of 100% duties under the Russian oil sanctions Act.

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“So you could conclude a trade deal and then end up having to pay much higher duties through ongoing and future coercive actions,” Shringla said, recalling that he had told a US envoy, when he was foreign secretary, that India was familiar with US sanctions, all of which had come at considerable cost.

He referred to the withdrawal, during Trump’s first term, of the US exemption that allowed India to import Iranian oil, the sanctions on Venezuelan oil in 2019, and pressure on India to stop buying Russian oil following the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.

India had to keep the energy security of its 1.4 billion people in mind and make decisions accordingly, Shringla said. Moreover, if India, one of the world’s largest energy importers, stopped buying Russian oil, it would affect global oil prices, he added.

Shringla’s remarks assume significance against the backdrop of the US president’s sudden announcement of a purchase of Russian diesel following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Asked about India-China relations, Shringla pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to India for the Brics summit, the first by a Chinese leader in seven years.

“It took several rounds of deliberations at the military level alongside special representatives’ dialogues, culminating in a satisfactory resolution in October 2024, translating shared intent into concrete progress through the systematic disengagement of forces across friction areas in eastern Ladakh. Leadership-level engagement reinforced this track.”

On the normalisation of relations between India and China, Shringla emphasised that the process rested on durable peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which remained the foundation.

The second element, he said, was deeper and more balanced economic integration. He stressed that a relationship of this scale could be sustained only if the trade imbalance narrowed through greater market access for goods and services and a more reciprocal investment climate.