Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joe Biden joined the 2+2 diplomatic dialogue between the two countries on Monday. New Delhi’s increased import of oil from Moscow took the centre stage as the two leaders spoke on a video call.

The Indian delegation consisted of foreign affairs minister S Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also joined the meeting.

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Has India ramped up the purchase of Russian oil?

As the Western bloc introduces a flurry of sanctions on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine, some countries have swept in to purchase the energy supplies at a lower cost. 

India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a statement earlier this month that the Russian oil purchase will continue despite the war in Ukraine. “We have started buying, we have received quite a number of barrels — I would think three-four days supply and this will continue,” the finance minister said, according to reports from Bloomberg.

What happened at the Biden-Modi meet?

President Joe Biden asked India’s Narendra Modi on Monday not to accelerate the buying of Russian oil, the White House press secretary said in a statement on Monday. Biden also offered to assist New Delhi in diversifying its sources of energy.

Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar pointedly suggested that Europe, not India, be the focus of Washington’s concern about energy purchases from Russia.

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“I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon,” he said, Associated Press reported.

What was India’s response?

The Indian delegation diplomatically went around any requests made by the United States. While references to Ukraine were kept at a minimum, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made no public commitments to decrease the purchase of oil from Moscow.