Russia promises to increase oil, LNG supplies to India

Amid the oil shock and supply chain disruptions triggered by the US-Israeli war against Iran, Russia has assured that its energy companies have the capacity to “steadily increase” oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to India, as well as “continue” to meet India’s fertilizer needs.

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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov called Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a two-day visit on Thursday, April 2, 2026, and discussed fertilizer supply. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the leaders discussed resuming energy supplies to India.

The high-level visit to Russia is seen as part of preparations by the two sides ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit to be hosted by India and the annual India-Russia summit scheduled to be held in Russia this year.

“We discussed our mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of trade, fertilisers, connectivity and people-to-people relations,” said Mr Modi, who “welcomed the continuous efforts of both sides” to implement the agreements of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit held here in December 2025.

Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Manturov “exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the conflict in West Asia,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press note.

According to the Russian embassy, ​​Mr. Manturov said that Russia had “increased the requested supply of mineral fertilizers to India by 40 percent and is ready to continue meeting India’s needs for this product.” He also stated that a joint project for carbamide (urea) production is “under development.”

“Special attention was paid to cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Denis Manturov confirmed that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily increase the supply of oil and liquefied natural gas to the Indian market,” the embassy wrote.

Mr. Manturov said Russia will deepen nuclear cooperation with India. Other issues such as industrial collaborations, space and education projects were also discussed at the meetings.

Mr. Manturov’s visit to Delhi, which ended on Friday, April 3, 2026, came a few days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Mr. Jaishankar spoke via video link at a conference on bilateral relations on March 23, 2026. At this conference, Mr. Lavrov described Russia’s preparations for the annual summit.

Mr. Lavrov had expressed Russia’s support for BRICS, of which India is the current Chairman. The group attracted attention for not making a statement regarding the developing situation in West Asia in recent weeks; However, Russia, India and China, which form a tripartite subgroup called RIC, stated that they will work closely with BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the UN on issues affecting the common interests of the Global South.

This was followed by Foreign Ministry Consultations between India and Russia on March 30, led by Foreign Minister Vikram Misri and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko. The Indian side hosted Vladimir Yakushev, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council (upper house) of the Federal Assembly of Russia this week. On Thursday, Mr. Yakushev met Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. He also met Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Nabin.

The frantic talks between India and Russia coincided with rising energy insecurity in India and the rest of South Asia as the war in West Asia continued for a second month. The US had imposed punitive tariffs on India in August 2025 and restricted India’s energy imports from Russia in an attempt to force Russia to make concessions in the war in Ukraine. However, in the backdrop of the crisis in the global energy market, the US issued a “temporary 30-day exemption” on March 6, allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian crude oil.