‘Wedded To Strategic Autonomy’: Jaishankar On Russian Oil Imports As Rubio Says India ‘Assured’ Cut

Last Updated:February 15, 2026, 08:08 IST

Jaishankar described the global oil market as complex. He said oil companies look at availability, costs and risks before taking decisions in their best interest.

Amid fresh claims from Washington that New Delhi has agreed to curb purchases of Russian crude, India stated that it will decide its energy policy on its own terms. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said energy choices would be guided by “costs, risks and availability", underlining that India remains firmly committed to strategic autonomy despite the newly announced US-India trade deal and pressure over Russian oil imports.

‘Wedded to strategic autonomy’: Jaishankar at Munich

Jaishankar said India remains firmly committed to strategic autonomy.

“We are very much wedded to strategic autonomy because it is very much a part of our history and our evolution. And it is something which is very deep, it is something which cuts across the political spectrum as well," he said.

His remarks came amid claims by Donald Trump and Marco Rubio that India had agreed to stop buying additional Russian oil.

India’s energy choices based on ‘costs, risks and availability’

Jaishankar described the global oil market as complex. He said oil companies look at availability, costs and risks before taking decisions in their best interest.

When asked whether India would stop buying Russian oil under a recent trade pact with US, he replied that India would remain independent-minded and may take decisions that do not align with others.

India has neither confirmed nor denied Washington’s claim that it committed to halting additional purchases of Russian crude.

Rubio’s big claim 

At the same conference, Rubio said the US had secured India’s commitment to stop buying additional Russian oil after new sanctions on Moscow’s energy sector. Russian news agency Tass quoted him as saying that Europe had also taken steps.

“The United States has imposed additional sanctions on Russia’s oil. In our conversations with India, we’ve gotten their commitment to stop buying additional Russian oil. Europe has taken its set of steps moving forward," said Rubio as quoted by Russian news agency Tass.

More than a week earlier, Trump said India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and buy more from the US, describing it as a key outcome of a trade breakthrough.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed reports of any such assurance, saying no one besides US officials had spoken about India halting imports and that the Indian government had made no such statements.

India-US trade deal

The energy issue unfolded alongside changes in trade ties. After a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump, both sides announced a cut in US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent.

The rollback included the removal of a 25 per cent tariff imposed last August over India’s continued imports of Russian oil.

During trade tensions, Trump repeatedly urged India to reduce Russian oil purchases amid the war in Ukraine and criticised New Delhi’s position.

India’s balancing act on Russian oil

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, India has sharply increased imports of discounted Russian crude, which now make up nearly 35 per cent of its total oil needs. US crude accounts for nearly 10 per cent, and public sector refiners have signed a one-year deal for American liquefied petroleum gas.

Parliament recently passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India SHANTI Bill, 2025, opening the nuclear power sector to private participation.

At Munich, Jaishankar also called for reforms in the United Nations, saying recent global shocks had exposed limits in the current international system.

He made clear that while partnerships may grow and trade tensions may ease, India will retain the final say on its strategic choices.

News world ‘Wedded To Strategic Autonomy’: Jaishankar On Russian Oil Imports As Rubio Says India ‘Assured’ Cut

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