India free to buy oil from sources it considers beneficial: Kremlin

Moscow: India, a sovereign nation, is free to buy oil from sources it considers beneficial, the Kremlin said on Monday, while expressing confidence that New Delhi will stick to the policy of ensuring its economic interests.

On August 6, the US imposed additional 25 per cent tariffs on India for its purchase of oil and petroleum products from Russia. At the end of August, US tariffs on imports of Indian goods and services were increased to 50 per cent.

"India, being and remaining a sovereign nation, carries out foreign trade operations and purchases energy resources where it is beneficial for itself," the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in the wake of last Friday's Summit talks between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Speaking after his talks with Prime Minister Modi, the Russian leader assured that Moscow will remain India's reliable energy supplier.

"And, as far as we understand, our Indian partners will continue this line to ensure their economic interests,” Peskov said when asked whether New Delhi will continue purchasing fuel from Moscow.

India became one of the largest buyers of Russian oil after the Ukrainian conflict began in 2022.

According to reports, India is scaling down its share of Russian crude in its oil imports under pressure from the West.

"Moscow has a long experience of evading sanctions, and if India is willing, we will find ways to supply crude," the Kremlin economic aide Maxim Oreshkin said while talking to national broadcaster Channel 1.