Russia is exploring long-term oil deal with India, says Deputy PM Novakmoscow 

Russia is exploring a long-term oil deal with India, Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Moscow, Novak said Russia was also looking at different options for gas supplies to India.

China and India have become key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies that shut most Western markets off to Russian exports. India now gets more than 40% of its oil imports from Russia, according to analysts.

Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhi’s importance as a key trading partner has grown since war in Ukraine.

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Modi last traveled to Russia in 2019, when he attended a forum in the far eastern port of Vladivostok and met with Putin. The leaders also saw each other in September 2022 in Uzbekistan, at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization bloc.

Under Modi’s leadership, India has avoided condemning Russia’s military action in Ukraine while emphasizing the need for a peaceful settlement.

The partnership between Moscow and New Delhi has become fraught, however, as Russia has moved closer to China. Modi notably stayed away from last week’s summit in Kazakhstan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping founded by Moscow and Beijing.

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A confrontation in June 2020 along the disputed China-India border dramatically altered their already touchy relationship as rival troops fought with rocks, clubs and fists. At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed. Tensions have persisted despite talks — and have seeped into how New Delhi looks at Moscow.

But Modi is expected to seek to continue close relations with Russia, which is also a major defense supplier for India.

With inputs from agencies.