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COVER STORY NOVEMBER 07, 2025 | The Indian Eye 5

Vladimir Putin’s scheduled visit
to India in December underscores
that the partnership endures despite
Western displeasure. India’s deci-
sion-making, officials repeat, is guid-
ed by “national interest, affordabil-
ity, and global market conditions”
— principles that anchor its foreign
policy even when the world divides
into rival energy blocs.
India’s ties with Russia remain
one of its most enduring and multifac-
eted strategic relationships, rooted in
decades of defense cooperation, en-
ergy partnership, and shared global
outlook. Moscow has long been New
Delhi’s principal defense supplier,
providing advanced systems such as
the S-400 air defense missile, nucle-
ar-powered submarines, and fighter
aircraft that form the backbone of
India’s military capability. Beyond
defense, Russia is a key energy part-
ner—supplying crude oil, LNG, and
nuclear fuel—and collaborating on India has large refining capacity but it imports a lot of oil. In recent years, Russia has been the biggest supplier of crude oil to India (File photo)
civilian nuclear projects like Kudank-
ulam. The partnership also extends percent of the landed cost of U.S. integrated energy-shipping infrastruc- is today. What distinguishes this mo-
to platforms such as BRICS, the crude and 2 percent for Middle East- ture. The broader vision ties directly ment is New Delhi’s determination to
Shanghai Cooperation Organization ern barrels, inflating India’s already to emerging trade corridors such as convert vulnerability into leverage. By
(SCO), and the Eurasian Economic large import bill. By developing its the India-Middle East-Europe Eco- maintaining diversified suppliers —
Union, where both countries advo- own fleet and financing ecosystem nomic Corridor and the Internation- from Russia and the Middle East to
cate a multipolar world order and — through new ship-owning enti- al North-South Transport Corridor, the United States — and by investing
greater Global South representation. ties, a Maritime Development Fund, which will connect Indian ports to in domestic logistics and shipbuild-
As Western alliances shift and global and revised shipbuilding assistance Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. In ing, India is building strategic auton-
sanctions deepen, India continues to policies — India aims to retain val- Puri’s words, “Our oceans are not bar- omy into its energy system. The Cha-
view Russia as a strategic partner— ue within its economy while creating riers but bridges to a better future.” bahar exemption and ongoing U.S.
balancing historic trust with prag- a new industrial base. Shipyards in cooperation in clean-energy projects
matic diversification in technology, Cochin, Visakhapatnam, Kattupalli, ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY show that Washington understands
trade, and energy security. and Kolkata are ramping up capacity, the need to accommodate India’s
supported by technology partnerships ndia’s evolving energy policy re- approach rather than confront it.
BUILDING AN ENERGY FLEET with Daewoo and Mitsui. Puri also flects a pragmatic realism born of Still, the path ahead will be com-
highlighted the government’s success Iexperience. The country has en- plex. Energy transitions worldwide
hile diplomatic maneuvers in doubling port capacity over the past dured oil shocks, sanctions, and sup- are speeding up, but for a developing
attract attention, a quieter decade and cutting turnaround times ply disruptions before, but never with economy of India’s scale, hydrocar-
Wrevolution is underway in by half, laying the groundwork for an its economy as globally integrated as it bons will remain central for at least
India’s maritime policy. Speaking at two more decades. As consumption
India Maritime Week 2025, Petro- rises and freight routes evolve, own-
leum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri ing the means of transport may prove
announced plans for India to build its as important as securing the oil itself.
own fleet of oil tankers — a decisive The government’s ambition to at-
step toward reducing dependence on tract nearly USD 95 billion in mari-
foreign shipping. At present, India’s time investment and generate 15 mil-
three major oil marketing compa- lion jobs by 2047 is both an economic
nies — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and geopolitical statement: India in-
and Hindustan Petroleum — spend tends not just to import energy but to
roughly USD 8 billion every five command the routes through which
years on chartering foreign vessels. energy moves.
Despite oil and gas forming nearly 28 In that sense, the interplay be-
percent of India’s total trade by vol- tween sanctions, exemptions, and
ume, only about one-fifth of that car- infrastructure building is more than
go moves under the Indian flag. “This a diplomatic balancing act — it is the
challenge we are now turning into an architecture of a future where India
opportunity,” Puri declared, framing fuels its growth on its own terms. The
the initiative as part of the govern- energy it seeks is not only in barrels
ment’s “Make in India, Sail for the of crude but in the confidence of
World” vision. To cut down its dependence on foreign shipping fleet, the Indian government has decided to self-reliance, as it sails through an
The numbers make the case create its own fleet (File photo) era where oil, politics, and power re-
clear. Freight alone adds up to 10 main inseparably intertwined.

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