US Senate advances bill imposing 100% tariffs on top Russian oil buyers

India's foreign policy is anchored in the doctrine of strategic autonomy — the sovereign right to pursue national interests without binding alignment to any single power bloc. Rooted in the Non-Aligned Movement tradition, this doctrine has allowed India to simultaneously deepen its Quad partnership and technology cooperation with the United States while maintaining historically close defence and energy ties with Russia. This dual-track approach came under acute stress after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when G7 nations imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Moscow and introduced a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian crude, operationalised by restricting Western shipping, insurance, and financial services from facilitating trades above that threshold.

India imports approximately 85% of its crude oil requirements, making energy price and supply security existential concerns. Russia, a marginal crude supplier before the conflict, rapidly became India's largest single crude oil supplier, accounting for over 35–40% of India's total crude imports by the mid-2020s — a share that reportedly crossed 50% of India's crude imports in mid-2026. This dramatic shift was driven by steep discounts on Russian Urals crude, offering India significant fiscal savings at a time of elevated global energy prices. India, not being a G7 member, was not legally bound by the price cap regime. The US and its allies have since escalated pressure through secondary sanctions — penalties applied not to Russia directly, but to third-country entities and governments that continue transacting with sanctioned Russian entities.