India has really been walking a careful geopolitical tight-rope, wanting keep relations on good terms with the Trump administration, but also wanting to defend its energy sovereignty and decision-making.
On Saturday the government issued a somewhat surprisingly feisty statement, in terms of its tone, after the United States just granted a sanctions waiver that allows for Russian oil shipments currently stranded at sea to be unloaded to Indian buyers.
India’s Press Information Bureau wants the world to know New Delhi was never dependent on “a short-term waiver” to buy Russian oil.
This is clearly a bit of a loud brush-off to Washington, and Moscow is certainly going to welcome it:
“India has never depended on permission from any country to buy Russian oil,” the government said in a statement.
And further, as the AFP also reports, the New Delhi statement reminded the West: “India is still importing Russian oil even in February 2026, and Russia is still India’s largest crude oil supplier.”
Meanwhile in Washington US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has clearly indicated the Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil.
As a reminder of the initial huge Thurs-Fri complete U-turn, coming months after Trump slapped tariffs on Indian goods in a bid to pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to abandon energy purchases from Russia, which of course India never did…
“To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X. “This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea.”
Since China gets about 45% of its oil from the Strait, should Iran agree to allowing Chinese ships through, and should Russia be able to fully supply India’s needs, and if Saudi Arabia can reroute as much as 7 million bbl/d from the gulf to Yangbu via the East-West pipeline, as we touched upon earlier…and suddenly the Hormuz blockade will seem far less ominous, as most of the oil blocked finds alternative ways to continue on its way to its final destination.
Loading recommendations…