Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India would continue to purchase crude from Russia as its people required oil at a discount after the surge in global prices, Reuters has reported.
India has already started buying oil from Russia, Sitharaman said, adding that the transition to gas was challenging as supplies had reduced.
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is on a visit to New Delhi to get support from the country after US and British officials pressed India to avoid undermining the dollar-based financial system and sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.