NEW DELHI – India is about to get bigger discounts on Russian crude oil and is said to be in talks to get more S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. This shows how strong the Indo-Russian cooperation is. These things are happening at a time when the United States is putting more and more pressure on India to change its trading ties with Russia.
Media says that offers for Russian Urals crude for late September and October are now $3–$4 less per barrel than Brent crude when it is delivered. This is a big jump from last week’s discount of roughly $2.50 per barrel and July’s discount of about $1. India, which is the third-largest oil importer in the world, has been buying a lot of Russian crude oil since 2022, when prices fell because of Western sanctions on Moscow.
At the same time, talks are going on to send more Russian S-400 missile systems to India. Dmitry Shugayev, who is in charge of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told media that Moscow and Delhi are “in the negotiation stage” for additional supplies. In 2018, India and Russia negotiated a $5.5 billion contract for five S-400 systems. Three of them have already been delivered. The last two units should now arrive in 2026 and 2027. Reports say that the S-400 systems were a big part of Operation Sindoor, which was India’s military strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan earlier this year.
This deliberate move to improve ties between India and Russia is happening at the same time that tensions with the US are growing. Last month, the US government put 50% tariffs on goods coming from India. Half of these taxes were meant to punish India for buying Russian oil. Top US officials, like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and former trade adviser Peter Navarro, have publicly condemned India. Navarro even called India a “laundromat” for Russian oil and said that India is “profiteering” from the war in Ukraine.
The most recent events happened after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met one-on-one at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China. Putin called Modi his “dear friend” and said that their “special and privileged strategic partnership” was still strong. He also said that their relationship was “developing dynamically.”
India has always defended its right to trade with Russia, even though the US has put pressure on it to do so. India says it needs to buy energy from Russia to meet its economic demands. Russia’s growing offers of cheap energy and military equipment show how hard Moscow is working to strengthen its ties with New Delhi in the face of geopolitical problems.