External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in New Delhi on Monday. The two sides discussed expanding their strategic partnership amid the West Asia crisis. The meeting gains significance as India faces energy supply shortages.
In New Delhi, India-Russia Foreign Office Consultations were co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Andrey Rudenko. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Both sides reviewed the full spectrum of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership and shared perspectives on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.”
Jaishankar posted on X, “Good to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko of Russia. Spoke about further advancement of our wide-ranging cooperation. As well as regional and global developments.” Though energy supplies were not mentioned in the post, they formed part of the discussions.
The US-Israel-Iran war, now 30 days old, has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, impacting India's oil imports. India meets over 88% of its crude oil needs through imports, with half transiting the strait recently. Surging Russian oil imports have cushioned the shortfall.
According to Russian agency TASS, on March 27 both sides expressed readiness to increase LNG supplies and discussed LPG deliveries. Reuters reported a verbal agreement for an LNG deal reached on March 19 between Pavel Sorokin and Hardeep Singh Puri. US President Donald Trump waived sanctions on Russian oil imports following the West Asia war.
