Oil Trade Deepens Ties Between Russia, China and India
Leaders’ meeting at the SCO summit in Tianjin underscored an energy-driven alignment as discounted Russian crude draws Beijing and New Delhi amid Western sanctions and tariffs
Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi used a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin to project a rare show of solidarity and to reinforce energy ties that have tightened since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The summit offered Putin an opportunity to engage directly with two of his country’s largest oil customers at a moment when Russian crude has become competitively priced after many Western countries curtailed trade with Moscow. India and China have both increased purchases of Russian oil, attracted by discounts that followed Western sanctions and trade restrictions.
Analysts said the energy relationship has pushed the three countries closer together beyond simple buyer-seller dynamics. The three governments now share a common geopolitical friction with the United States, which has applied sanctions on Russia and introduced tariffs that affect some trading partners. That tension has complicated how China and India manage their growing energy links with Moscow.
India has faced some of the highest duties imposed by Washington for buying Russian oil, a development New Delhi has described as economically painful while it balances strategic ties and energy needs. China, meanwhile, has pursued high-level talks with the United States aimed at avoiding tariffs and potential sanctions that could ensue from its purchases of Russian crude.
The Tianjin meeting followed an earlier gathering in Kazan, where the same leaders met last year. For Moscow, sustained demand from Beijing and New Delhi has softened the economic impact of Western penalties by providing alternative markets for hydrocarbons. For China and India, discounted Russian oil has been an attractive means to secure energy supplies while diversifying sources.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, whose summit convened the three leaders, has increasingly been portrayed by analysts as a regional forum that promotes an alternative worldview to that of Western powers. Delegates and external commentators have described the SCO as a mechanism through which member states can coordinate on political and economic matters outside established Western-led institutions, a posture seen by some as a challenge to American influence.
Energy specialists said the recent pattern of trade reflects both market dynamics and geopolitical realities. When Western buyers reduced purchases of Russian oil after sanctions were announced in 2022, supply shifts widened the price gap between Russian grades and competing barrels. State-linked and private refiners in China and India took advantage of those price differentials, securing cargoes at terms that proved commercially advantageous.
The evolving trade has exposed tension between commercial imperatives and diplomatic pressures. Washington’s punitive measures against Russia and its tariff policy toward trading partners create a fraught environment for countries that rely on Russian energy but also seek to maintain constructive ties with the United States. Negotiations between Beijing and Washington aimed at limiting the risk of punitive measures underline the diplomatic complexity surrounding the oil flows.
While energy links have strengthened Moscow’s ties with Beijing and New Delhi, the scope and durability of that alignment will depend on market conditions, the course of Western policy, and the domestic economic priorities of the countries involved. For now, discounted Russian crude remains a central factor in the closer economic engagement observed among the three capitals, and the Tianjin summit highlighted how energy can be a focal point of broader geopolitical realignment.