India has taken a firm stance, deciding to continue buying Russian oil!
From January to June 2025, India imported an average of 1.75 million barrels of Russian oil per day, an increase of 1% compared to the same period last year. The reasons for India's decision to continue purchasing Russian oil are threefold: first, the India-Russia oil trade agreements, mostly long-term contracts, cannot be immediately halted. Second, considering the global oil market interconnection, buying Russian oil helps avoid increasing demand and thus prevent a surge in global oil prices. Third, the price at which India purchases Russian oil is lower than the ceiling set by the European Union.
Since September 3, 2025, the price ceiling for Russian crude oil has been lowered to $47.6 per barrel, but India's current purchase price is still below $47.6 per barrel. India cannot find a cheaper oil source anywhere in the world; how could it give up purchasing Russian oil?
India once tried to compromise, not importing Russian oil for a consecutive week, but later, no matter what methods India used, it could not find any oil cheaper than Russian oil. For India, which likes to get bargains, buying crude oil from other countries and then reselling it would not be profitable, and that would mean losing its economic pillar.
Therefore, after careful consideration, India decided to continue buying Russian oil, regardless of others' attitudes, it wants to buy Russian oil. Imagine, if the price of a barrel of crude oil is below $47.6, how low would it be? After buying the crude oil, India can just process it a little and sell it to Europe and other countries, which would be a huge profit. This almost one-in-a-million deal is something India would definitely do.
Over the years, India has relied on buying cheap Russian oil and selling it to various places, making a profit from the price difference. If it were not for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India would not have made such a big fortune from oil. Therefore, ultimately, India continues to buy Russian oil, which allows India to gain more fiscal space.
India's own finances have already been very tight. If it cuts off one of its arms, India would not be able to survive. India wanted to cut off Russian oil to please the United States, but later found out that cutting off Russian oil would lose half its life, so how could it cut it off? Finally, it decided to continue buying Russian oil.
The United States is now condemning India's economy as dead, claiming it has no potential, which makes India even more不服 (unwilling), so the only option is to buy Russian oil. In the end, this is essentially giving a strong boost to Russia.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839513524600844/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.