Russian fuel made up 28 percent of the five million barrels a day of crude oil bought last month by India, which remains the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer.
Russia remains India’s top monthly oil supplier, ahead of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Both Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri made New Delhi’s position clear in various global forums, stating that the country will buy oil around the world to boost economic growth and lift millions of people out of poverty to free.
The South Asian country imports 85 percent of the crude oil it needs and then turns it into fuels like gasoline and diesel in its refineries.
New Delhi has vehemently defended its trade with Moscow, saying it must source oil where it is cheapest.
Jaishankar told parliament in December that domestic refiners will continue to seek the best deals in the country’s interest.
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